HTTYD: The Redemption of the Riders
by Dustnblood
Summary: Talon Coaber is a refugee from the destruction of America. A dragon cult calling themselves 'The Deprived' have overthrown most governments in the Western Hemisphere with a military and dragons. To try and stop Talon's hatred towards dragons, his dad sends him to the last dragon training facility, D.U.T.I. Includes Hiccup and gang, but how? Lots of Action.
1. Prolouge

**Well, here's my new story! Hope you enjoy it! Hears just the intro…**

**-Enjoy!**

Prologue

It was the turn of the year 2020. Such a wondrous event, but no celebration was being made or planned throughout the world; for year 2020 had brought the dawn of a nightmare that was threatening any country or nation with a basis of freedom. The horror was a cult, calling them The Deprived. The Cult was a group of dragon trainers, led by a man only known as 'The Skull King'. At the beginning of December, The Deprived swept through the United States of America and within days conquered the super power. Though The Deprived originated as dragon riders, they used a military to help them with their purposes. With the combination of Dragons and a separate military, the fall of America was fairly swift.

The remaining US military that was either stationed out of America or that were able to escape the burning wrath of The Deprived joined each other in Europe within the existing bases. The top generals of the former USA military then created the U.S.M.R., the United States Military Remnant. On top of that, the new N.A.T.O called the U.E.C., the United European Countries, allowed the U.S.M.R. to build three new bases to house the U.S.M.R. Navy. The new bases were constructed in three countries: Norway, Italy, and Spain. One of the fleets, the U.S.M.R. 3rd fleet, is stationed at Norway. Admiral Jason Coaber was assigned as commander of it.

Dragon riding in of itself was under attack. With only one dragon training facility existing in the world, called D.U.T.I., meaning Dragons Unified Training Institute; located in Ireland, has become a prime target for politicians and countries to accuse and belittle. Dragon training became a luxury only available to the rich or those that were connected to those who ran D.U.T.I. Dragon trainers were also considered dangerous and treacherous. The reputation that the Deprived had as well wasn't helping

Hiccup and his gang would also be affected with the actions of the Skull King and the Deprived. However, dragon training was on a path that would change the past and present, thanks to the Deprived. For a boy, living with a hatred for the Deprived and dragons, was about to change the worlds view on dragon training.


	2. Chapter 1

**So…being from the USA and this story taking place mainly in Europe, I really tried to keep it accurate with culture or stuff that makes Europe, Europe…well mostly the U.K. Forgive me if I completely flop on a few things regarding this. Also, I don't mean anything offensive in this story if you find it offensive. **

**PS – Thanks for the reviews! Didn't think I'd get any for a prologue!**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter One

"Try to keep up Hiccup!" Astrid shouted, guiding Stormfly into a dive.

"Come on bud, let's beat her!" Hiccup whispered to Toothless, shifting his foot. The prosthetic tail on Toothless folded closed, allowing Toothless to fall into a steep dive.

It wasn't long before Hiccup not only caught up to Astrid, but he flew right past her.

Pulling up just feet above the ocean, Hiccup banked hard right, letting Toothless' wing slice through the water. Astrid did the same, except letting Stormfly drop her tail into the water, creating a spray of water behind the Nadder.

Looking for Hiccup, Astrid spotted the two as they began to pull up and stall out. Toothless then swung his tail upwards, flipping him around. Now staring down at the water, Toothless proceeded to rotate once again. Completing the flip, Toothless leveled out without losing much altitude.

Astrid's and Stormfly's response was to climb higher. As she peaked at the height that she wanted, she urged Stormfly to spin! Feeling the dragon respond quickly, she could feel Stormfly begin a tail slide. Keeping the spinning going, the two quickly lost altitude. Falling rapidly, Stormfly then rolled to her left with the inertia created from the spinning, going into a corkscrew dive. Diving for a few feet, Stormfly quickly pulled up and leveled out.

"Nice dive Astrid!" Hiccup called out, flying level with her.

"Been working on that for a while," Astrid replied "it took a bit of practice…"

"Looked like it went smoothly though!" Hiccup said smiling. Turning towards inland, he then said "Race to Raven's Rock? Last one there has to feed both dragons?"

"You're on!" Astrid shouted, quickly urging Stormfly to fly faster.

Without even saying anything, Hiccup lowered himself on Toothless, urging him to fly faster as well. The two were neck and neck, neither one gaining or losing ground. Flying over the rocky shoreline of Berk, the two were just about there when a Gronckle and a bigger looking rider flew out of the trees, flying straight towards them.

"Fishlegs!?" Astrid shouted, banking right with Stormfly to avoid a collision.

Hiccup also thrown off by the sudden emergence of Fishlegs and his beloved Gronckle named Meatlug. "Whoa! Fishlegs! What's up?" Hiccup asked rotating around to talk to Fishlegs

"Uh…sorry guys!" Fishlegs stammered "But I needed to find you quickly!"

"It better be important!" Astrid said angrily, finally recovering from the sudden turn.

"It's Gothi the village Elder! She's about to prophesy!" Fishlegs said defensively, hoping it would be enough to quell Astrid anger.

Shocked, Hiccup turned to Astrid saying, "Come on! We need to hurry!"

Nodding, Astrid began to fly towards the village.

* * *

A lot was going through Hiccup's head, "What's she going to prophesy about now?" Prophesying to Berk was like breaking news, really important to the villagers. It helped them prepare for big events in the future, though often times it being extremely vague.

It wasn't long before the three arrived at the village. Upon flying over, they could see the tribe basically migrating to the Great Hall. Landing near the entrance, Hiccup could see Gobber at the entrance, holding the door open.

"Gobber! What's going on? When did Gothi get into a trance?" Hiccup asked.

"Oi Hiccup!" Gobber shouted, smiling and waving him over with his hooked hand. "Actually, she came to Stoick and I, as it if she knew it was coming…"

"That's weird…" Hiccup replied, looking as the tribe members began to walk through the doorway "I guess it's important then huh?"

"Yeah I guess so! Come on, I've got to translate for her…" Gobber said, beginning to walk inside.

Looking at Astrid and Fishlegs, Hiccup gave them an expression of excitement as he followed Gobber.

The Great Hall was big, but even with its size it was crowded. Squeezing through the maze of Vikings; Hiccup, Astrid and Fishlegs eventually met up with the rest of their group; Snotlout, and the twins.

"What took you guys so long?" Snotlout asked, turning to Hiccup.

"Oh come on, we were right behind the last ones to show up! It's not like we kept them waiting!" Hiccup replied, rolling his eyes.

Behind the group was Stoick, Hiccup's dad and also the chief of Berk. He was huge, even for a Viking.

"Ah, there you are son…" Stoick said gesturing Hiccup to come closer "I think it'll be good for us to be next to Gothi don't ya' think?"

Smiling, Hiccup nodded, then adding: "Yeah considering you're the chief and you need to hear whatever she says!"

Resting his hand on his son's shoulder, Stoick guided him to the center of the Great Hall where Gothi was standing, in a trance and staring at nothing. Gobber was already next to her, making sure she had enough room to write whatever came to her with her stick.

Waiting for Gothi to start writing, Hiccup noticed Astrid pushed her way next to him.

"Kind of nerve wracking huh?" she stated, smiling with excitement. "I love it when she prophesies…"

"Yeah me too!" Hiccup said agreeing "Last time it was about where to fish, which was probably the best haul we had in a long time!"

The Hall went quiet, instantly catching the two's attention. Gothi was starting to write in the ground. Gobber was staring at the writings, stroking his chin with his good hand. After a few seconds of reading, his eyebrow rose a little bit and his face looked like it had a little surprise in it. Taking a few seconds to rub his eyes, he re-read what was written down.

"Eh, well that's different…" Gobber said, still staring at the writing.

"What is it Gobber?" Stoick asked stepping closer to his friend.

"Well…from what I'm getting, a skeleton…with his skeleton dragon will come and invade Berk..."

"A what!?" Stoick asked in shock.

Hiccup was confused as well when he heard this. "A skeleton? On a dragon?" Hiccup whispered to Astrid with confusion written on his face.

Astrid just shrugged, staring intently at Gobber waiting to see if an explanation was following shortly after.

Gobber looked back at Gothi's writing, saying "Oh, well that's not good…"

"WHAT!?" Stoick asked loudly.

"It says that 'The skeleton rider and his dragon will come with an army of dragon riders as well. With the purpose to burn everything in their way." Gobber finished looking up at Stoick with concern on his face.

"Do we know when?" Stoick asked with urgency.

"No, that's about it" Gobber replied with shaking his head. Turning to Gothi again, he quickly exclaimed "Oi! Never mind she's written a little more!" Studying the new writings, Gobber again raised his brow. Looking at Stoick with confusion, he said: "But a metal dragon with a metal rider will come to help us." Shaking his head "I don't know Stoick but I think Gothi's finally lost it."

Instantly, the end of Gothi's stick hit Gobber in the head. Out of the trance, Gothi stared at Gobber annoyingly.

"A metal rider? Metal dragon? That doesn't help at all!" Stoick said almost angrily. The Great Hall began to echo with whispers and murmurs, creating an almost contained chaos.

"Everyone! Please calm down." Stoick roared, getting the attention of the tribe. "I don't know who the 'skeleton' is, or why he's coming here, but we can't panic. We have to prepare to receive them, just like we used to with the dragons before."

A wave of agreement sounded through the Hall, to which Stoick continued: "Now let's go prepare! I want every able-bodied person to carry a weapon at all times. I want multiple watches every night."

As Stoick continued to give orders, Hiccup turned to Astrid with worry on his face. "I thought we were the only ones to ride dragons!"

Astrid with an equally shocked expression nodded her head saying: "I did too!"

"And what's with this metal rider and dragon? It's hard enough to believe the skeleton and skeleton dragon, but metal!? It can't float in water, let alone fly!"

Turning to where his dad was standing, Hiccup suddenly had a fear come over him. Whoever these people were that were coming, he had to be ready to fly against them…or in the metal riders' case, with him.

* * *

"This is squadron leader Demon over, do you copy?" Talon's headset went off "Do you copy Coaber?"

"This is Coaber over, are you ready Demon?" Talon radioed into his helmet. Flying an F-35 fighter jet about 20,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean, Talon looked over to his right to see another F-35, his flight leader Carter whose call sign was Demon. Farther to the right of him was the Boeing 747 that they were escorting.

"Roger that, I have two bogey's behind us and one ahead. They're coming hot, so assume they're hostile." The headset radioed. "Go for the two behind us. I got the one up front."

"Copy, Coaber over and out." Talon replied, banking his jet. Looking at his radar, he saw the two jets. Increasing his speed, Talon flew right at them, prepping his weaponry. Suddenly Talon's headset went off "They're locking the 747! They're hostile! Engage, engage!"

Focusing on the two in front of him, Talon fired a sidewinder at the two jets to break their formation. Seeing the two bank opposite of each other, Talon turned for the one that went to his right. Seeing the shape of the jet, Talon radioed "They're F-35's! Be careful!"

Following the hostile jet, Talon fought the G-forces that were pulling on him to stay on the enemy's tail. Pulling on the joystick, Talon tried to get his reticles over the fleeing jet. His headset went off again with Carter's voice radioing "Got 'em! Scratch one bandit!"

Not really hearing what was being said, Talon kept on pushing his aircraft to follow the other jet. Unable to get a lock, Talon fired his cannon in two short bursts, barely missing the tail of the bandit. His headset radioed again, this time with a more frantic Carter. "Coaber! They're closing in on the 747! Where are you?"

"Son of a-" Talon shouted as he turned his jet to face the 747. Closing in behind it was the other F-35. "Crap! I got 'im!" Talon shouted, trying to make up his screw up. Hitting the throttle to the max, Talon sped straight to the second F-35. Not wanting to fire a sidewinder in the off chance that he would hit the 747, Talon blew past the enemy jet who was lining up for the kill. Getting himself in between the 747 and the attacker, Talon radioed Carter "Hey Demon, I need help! I'll take the hit if he shoots, but I need you to take him down or scare him!"

"Got it Coaber, hold on!" Carter replied back.

Too late. The radar warning went off in Talon's cockpit; the high pitched monotone drone of the warning, letting him know that he was locked. Banking to the left hard, Talon tried to lead the jet away from the 747. Looking behind him, he could see it was working, but he still was locked on. Focusing on evasive maneuvers, Talon dumped his flares. Banking right, Talon still didn't lose his pursuer. "Where are you Demon!?" Talon screamed in his headset.

"A little busy! His buddy just engaged me and I'm having a swell of a time just trying to get behind him!" Carter radioed back.

"Shit" Talon yelled to himself as he banked left and dumping flares. Leveling out for a second, the radar lock warning stopped and he saw a contrail of a missile to his right. Breathing for a second, Talon was brought back to the situation as he heard cannons behind him. Diving to avoid the 25mm shots, Talon then banked right and pulled up. Then a thought came into his head. "A Cobra maneuver…" he whispered to himself. Focusing on leveling out and making sure his bandit was right behind him, Talon pulled up hard on his joystick and angled his thruster. His F-35 quickly responded by pointing upwards as if to climb higher, but kept on flying straight; Talon stared into the heavens as he managed his aircrafts position. The G's were so strong at the angle his aircraft was in, and how fast he slowed down, that he was about black out. Hearing his pursuer quickly fly under him, he brought his jet's nose back down a leveled off, bringing relief to his body.

"Tables have turned buddy!" Talon shouted as he fired a sidewinder. Unable to recover from flying under Talon, the enemy jet caught the missile in the left wing. "Whooo!" Talon shouted into his headset "Splash one bandit!"

"Good job! His buddy's trying to bug out. Got my radar on him though!" Carter replied "Firing!"

Talon waited for second and then heard "That's three bandits down! Success!"

Talon leaned back in his seat and took a deep breath. The 747 was home bound and they just stopped an interception; Talon was finally able to relax.

Suddenly his cockpit began to glitch out, and then words began to run across his screen.

'SIMULATION TERMINATED'

Almost instantly, the cockpit went to a flat blue screen. He was so into the fight that he forgot he was in a simulator. He forgot that he was still on the ground in the newly constructed military base in Norway. Opening his cockpit, Talon stood up to look around the simulation room that he was in. Three other cockpits were already opened to his right with the pilots talking to each other on the ground, and the one on his left beginning to open as well. Stepping out of the cockpit onto the platform that led up to it, Talon took his flight helmet off.

Talon was well built, strong looking kid. Being about 17, he was a little short for his age, standing at about 5'11". He had short black hair which he never really let it grow long. When he was with the members of the Flying Four, the Third Fleet's elitist squadron, he had a small grin on his face. When he wasn't with them though, he had a serious, no nonsense demeanor. Wearing blue Levi's and a button down American Eagle shirt, it was obvious that he wasn't part of the squadron, as much as he wanted to be.

"What kind of crap was that!?" one of the pilots called out as he stepped down from the platform "I had you in my sights and a sidewinder ready to fly up your tail pipe!"

These were the three other pilots were part of the Flying Four, named: Jackson, Dabolt, and Clay

"Ha, well Clay, you were on my tail for too long so I had to…well, improvise!" Talon said laughing pounding Clay's fist.

"Watching you pull that Cobra was amazing!" Jackson quickly inserted "I was wondering what the hell you were doing when you leveled out for him!"

"Oh, so you were the first one shot down then huh?" Talon said smiling turning to Jackson "I mean if you saw that!"

"Hey! In my defense, I was up against Carter…" Jackson said quickly, to which everyone laughed at.

Talon felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning to see who it was; Talon found that he was next to Carter, his flight leader of the simulation.

Carter was a likeable guy, always being relaxed and almost goofy at most times. He was like a brother to Talon, always supporting him, guiding him, even counseling him. Carter was family to Talon. Easily dubbed the best pilot in the Third Fleet, Carter was really humble and always trying to help the younger pilots.

"Yeah so?" Carter said smiling "You could have put me in a bind if you went for me instead of the 747. Let the third member of your squad take care of that!"

"Ah, well…" Jackson replied "Well shoot." was all he could come up with.

Laughing the group walked out of the simulation room into the replay room. Watching what each pilot did, Carter instructed each of them on a personal level. Watching Talon's Cobra maneuver, Carter said "That's pretty dang good Talon! I was thinking of doing a Kulbit maneuver, but that worked almost better!"

Talon watched Carter turn to face him, ready to receive instruction. Instead, he received something much more meaningful and hard than correction.

"I know Jeremy would have been proud of you." Carter almost whispered.

The group instantly got quiet. Clay, Jackson, and Dabolt slightly bowed there head.

Talon was shocked! This topic was something rarely discussed between the two, let alone with the rest of the squad. "Th…Thank you?" Talon finally stammered. "That came out of nowhere."

"You know I wouldn't talk about it if it wasn't true. He would have been all over you for being able to pull that maneuver successfully." Carter then added "It doesn't help to not talk about your brother who was the icon of the squadron…He deserves to be remembered Talon."

Nodding, Talon looked down and said "I know…it's hard to do sometimes though…"

Carter put his hand on Talon's shoulder and said "I know…but we're going to make it easier…"

"Thanks Carter…" Talon whispered with water in his eyes. Then replying to Carter's compliment with a forced smile, said: "He'd be jealous wouldn't he?"

Laughing, Carter said "I'm willing to bet so!" Turning to the rest of the group he said "Think now's a good time?"

"Yeah…let's do it!" Dabolt replied smiling.

"What?" Talon asked quizzically, unsure of what they meant. He was preparing to sprint away in case it was another prank they usually do to him.

"Talon, we want to give you a call sign…" Carter said smiling "The fleet's leaving in two days so this is really our last time to actually be each other, with each other for a while."

Talon was shocked, but excited. A call sign meant you were accepted as a member of the squadron, even though he wasn't even eligible for military service yet. This was a good thing that Talon was waiting for.

"So, Talon, we were trying to think of name to give you, but nothing would suffice. You're easily a better pilot than Jackson and Clay…"

"HEY!" both of them shouted at the same time.

Ignoring them, Carter kept going "We all decided to give you your brother's call sign: Cobra. AND! After seeing you pull the very maneuver that has the same name, it's kind of official!"

Talon was floored! He was given a call sign that was respected among all of the Third Fleet navy pilots and it was supported by all his friends. Only able to nod, Talon began to be light headed.

"So…Talon Coaber, do you accept the call sign? I know I'm making this a lot more 'official' than it has to be, but we want you to choose to accept this name seeing it's important to you and us." Carter said, stepping back from Coaber.

"Yes…I accept!" Talon whispered. He was unofficially a member of the Flying Four…he was trusted to fly with them!

"Congrats Cobra!" Carter said, picking up his helmet "I know you'll do the name the good it deserves." Turning to the rest of the squadron, he said: "All right, hit the showers, we got to prep ourselves for the departure."

Watching the four pilots leave, Talon called out to Carter: "Thanks Carter! Thank you…"

Not even turning, Carter just waved his hand, even though Talon knew he was smiling.

* * *

Matt was at the base's gym, training his MMA. Part of his training was to bash his shins against a pole, deadening the nerves. This allowed him to be more lethal when fighting. As he kept on pounding the pole with his shins, he let his mind think about the turn of events. He was basically inducted into the Flying Four, being a dream he wanted for so long. He was given his brothers call sign, something he was very honored, yet angry about. Bringing his shin harder against the pole, Talon let his mind fall into the last memories of his brother.

It was cold that day…he was standing on the bridge of the Third Fleet's command ship, the Avenging Angel. His dad, the admiral of the fleet, was busy ordering the ships to retreat…Talon could remember seeing New York City, with chaos on the streets, explosions in buildings, and the fighter jets dogfighting each other in the sky, Dragons killing people and setting fire to anything they could. Contrary to what the world thinks…the dragons were the ones who did the most damage during the invasion of New York City.

Talon remembered hearing the radio of the Flying Four sounding in the bridge. It was Jeremy, his brother…the squadron's leader.

"F-18! Armed with anti-ship missiles!" the radio sounded off "Cover my six Buzz!"

Buzz was Dabolt's call sign. "Cobra, hold on let me rejoin you first!"

"Can't, he's lining up to take a shot!" Jeremy replied.

"COBRA! You got someone on your six! I can't get him!" Dabolt roared.

Remembering the panic In Dabolt's voice made Talon's blood ice up.

"I'm radar locked! Gotta, fire two sidewinders!" Jeremy yelled in the radio. "Hit! Hit! He's going down!" Talon could hear in the radio.

"Evade! Cobra evade!" Dabolt shouted.

"EERRAAAHHHH!" Jeremy screamed.

Talon saw an F-35 explode above the harbor, the debris splashing into the water; almost taking Talons breath and life with it.

"No! Cobra's down, Cobra's down!" the radio screamed.

Talon quickly snapped back into reality, then bringing his shin across the pole harder than before. After the massive hit, Talon stood back from his training spot. Sweat running down Talon's face, he was angry, confused, almost every emotion was running through him now.

Looking at the clock on the wall, Talon didn't realize that he was training on the pole for the last 45 minutes! "Well, at least the shins are more deadened…" Quickly, he put his shirt on; Talon then put away his equipment into a small duffle bag and pulled out a black sweatshirt. Being in Norway, it was cold to go outside even when you finish a work out, since Talon was from Redlands California.

Walking out of the gym, Talon jumped into his Volkswagen Golf GTI. One of the few things he owned. Pulling out of the parking lot, Talon made way to his home in the center of the base. It wasn't a long drive, especially since he had a lot on his mind. Pulling into the driveway, Matt saw his dad's Audi S4. "Well he's home early…" Grabbing his bag, he began to walk to the simple looking house.

Opening and closing the door, Talon dropped his bag. "I'm home!" he yelled, walking towards the kitchen.

"Talon?" his dad's voice sounded in the living room "How was your workout today?"

Changing courses, Talon walked into the living room to find his dad reading a book. "It was good…spent a little longer than I wanted to on the pole, but it was good." Talon said sitting on the couch across from his dad.

Still looking in the book, Jason Coaber asked: "Why were you training on the pole more than usual?"

At first Talon didn't want to say why, but then decided to heck with it because it was one eventful of a day. "I was thinking of Jeremy…"

His dad looked up from his book and stared at his son. "What caused that?"

Not holding anything back, Talon explained what happened while training with the Flying Four. His dad only nodded, but smiled a little bit when Talon told him that he became 'Cobra'.

"I'm glad you got that name…" he whispered "But you know that I don't like you training with them."

Talon rolled his eyes, saying "So you want me to do nothing? You know I'm going to enlist as soon as I'm old enough!"

"Son, you're the only thing I have left!" Jason said "I don't think I can live if you're ever…" his voice trailed off.

"Killed?" Talon responded.

"Yes, but also deeper than that…lost." Jason replied "I don't want you losing yourself."

"Dad, I want to serve to avenge Jeremy! I don't want his sacrifice to be wasted. I feel that if I don't help fight the Deprived, I'm a useless human doing nothing to help the world." Talon said with a little agitation in his voice. "You of all people should have the same goal as I do!"

"I do Talon, trust me…but I'm not letting it consume me! Since the fall of America you've done nothing but train yourself physically and as a pilot. Not to mention I know you're going to the shooting range to practice with your pistol and rifle! You don't do anything else!" Jason said also raising his voice. "That's not what a 17 year old needs to do right now, you're letting your emotions control you! Besides, I know what you're practicing on when you're by yourself in the simulations; simulated dragons!? What's that about?"

"I'm getting ready! I'm preparing myself! What kids are here in this base don't want to do anything but play Call of Duty and school work!" Talon yelled.

His dad then pointed at Talon. "This is exactly what I'm talking about…It's ok to grow up, but not with a shallow sight! You need to look at all avenues, not just one."

Not saying anything, Talon just got up and walked to his room.

"I hate the Deprived and I hate dragons." Talon whispered to himself. "I'll fight them until I'm killed or they're gone." Nothing was going to change his mind about that, even death.


	3. Chapter 2

**This was a REALLY long chapter to write…Hope you like it! It also starts to get into dragons**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter Two

*BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP*

Talon's alarm went off with the same type of alarm that warned him he had a missile lock on him. Sitting straight up in bed with his heart pounding out of his chest, Talon glanced at his clock. "6:45" He whispered, trying to calm himself down. His nerves were slightly on edge after the simulation yesterday for being locked on for quite a long time. Relaxing a little, Talon shifted his covers off if him and got out of bed. Looking out the window, he could see the sun start to break over the horizon.

Smiling, Talon pulled his gym shorts over his boxers. Today's schedule was to go to the shooting range and practice. Owning an ACR that the bases' armory helped him build, Talon enjoyed shooting it; it helped him relax, whatever his attitude may be. Entering the kitchen, Talon pulled out a blender from a cupboard. Plugging it in the wall, Talon went to the refrigerator, pulling out some yogurt and fruit. Setting it on the cupboard, Talon finally looked up. Shocked to see his dad sitting at the table in full uniform and his hat resting in his lap, Talon had jumped back a little bit. Normally his dad was gone by 6:30.

"Dad! Hey what's up?" Talon said, catching his breath. "Wasn't expecting to see you there!"

Laughing a little, yet keeping a serious face, the admiral stood up "I thought I was going to have to call you out, you walked right past me!"

"Ah well…I was just excited to go shooting today…I think I need it." Talon replied shrugging a little. Pulling out a kitchen knife, Talon started to chop up his fruit. "Therapy really…"

"Is this what you have for breakfast every day?" Jason asked, now leaning against the counter top.

"I put protein powder in it, but in answer to your question, yeah." Talon said smiling "Helps me with my morning runs."

Nodding Jason looked at the mix of diced up fruit. Turning to his son, he then said "You know the fleet is leaving tomorrow right?"

Talon nodded, saying "Yeah, I'm still hoping I can come, but I know what was decided with the council…"

Jason nodded as well, saying "I know, but the rest of the generals and admirals agreed that civilians are to not be stationed on ships or convoys while they're on duty…I'm sorry son…"

Talon shrugged, dumping the rest of the fruit into the blender. "Eh, it's policy now; I'm not to terribly torn over it. I'll just stay here and well…keep working out and train!"

Dumping spoonful's of yogurt into the blender, Talon looked at his dad and asked "So why are you here? Shouldn't you be prepping for the departure?"

Jason just looked at his son, and after a second of pausing, he then said "Talon, I'm sending you to D.U.T.I."

Talon almost dropped the milk he was pouring in the blender. "WHAT!? WHY!?"

"Because I'm not leaving you here alone, that's why! I know you won't go to school here, so I'm making you go to a place that makes sure you're having some type of education! On top of that, you might actually make some friends that aren't enlisted in the U.S.M.R!"

Talon slammed the gallon of milk down, "NO! I'm not going!"

"If you don't, I'll order all my men stationed here to not let you have access to anything within the base! You can't use the simulators, shooting range, even the gym!" Jason replied without missing a beat "You'll be more miserable here than there!"

"Why are you doing this to me!? You know I hate dragons and dragon sympathizers!" Talon shouted.

"You're going. No argument! It starts tomorrow as well, lucky for you; you'll be dropped you off as the fleet sails through the English Channel." Jason said, cutting off all chances to argue. Pointing to a suit hanging on the front door, he continued "There's a new suit for you. It's a formal occasion for the first day."

Fuming, Talon stormed off, not even blending his protein shake. Slamming the door in his room, Talon grabbed the closest thing he had, being his phone, and threw it into the wall. Smashing through the drywall, Talon just stared at the hole. Why was his dad being a tyrant suddenly?

D.U.T.I was the last place for any type of formal dragon training school. Since Admiral Coaber didn't condemn the institute for helping with the fall of America, they instantly received him as a friend. D.U.T.I was the last place he wanted to go, let alone be at. In Talon's mind it was the equivalent of a dumb jock of a public school going to a private school meant for advanced education.

"Probably asked if they could take me in…" Talon whispered to himself.

Then Talon heard Jason yell through the door: "Better get packing, the fleet's leaving at 0500 hours…"

Angrily, Talon pulled out a bigger duffle bag from his closet. Throwing the bag on his bed, Talon began to sift through his drawers for clothes that he knew he wanted to bring. Folding up a pile of his favorite button down shirts, Talon cursed his dad, trying to vent the anger that wasn't waning.

After throwing a few gym shorts and his workout shirts, Talon opened one drawer that was loaded with his few personal belongings; a para cord bracelet that his brother gave him, his Springfield XD pistol, and a photo album. Taking the photo album out, Talon sat on the bed to look through the few pictures he had.

Standing on the flight deck of the Avenging Angel was Talon's brother, his dad, and himself. That was when Jeremy was officially assigned to Jason's fleet. No family could have been happier than the Coaber's on that day. It was two months before the Deprived attacked. Frowning out of sadness, not anger, Talon looked at another photo; it was him as a toddler, wearing his dad's uniform hat. Jason was only a captain of a destroyer at that time. Talon didn't have any pictures of his mom, having died from child birth. Jason was devastated at the loss of his wife, having permission to take care of his two sons for a few months.

Not wanting to dig into memories anymore, Talon gently closed the album. Even though he knew he was going to D.U.T.I., he was a lot calmer now. Those pictures helped him when he was upset with his personal life. Putting the album in the duffle bag, Talon then pulled out a sunglass case. His most prized possession was his Oakley Gas Can sunglasses, since they're no longer made with the US taken over. Pulling them out and sliding them on, Talon grabbed his pistol's case and his ACR from his closet. "Better go shoot while I can!"

Loading his car up, Talon looked up at the fleet stationed outside of the base. "I guess I'm actually leaving!" Talon reaffirmed in his head. Getting into the car, Talon then drove to the shooting range.

* * *

The air was cold. Talon was standing on an outer deck of the Avenging Angel, the command carrier of the Third Fleet. Wearing his Burton winter coat over his suit and his black sunglasses, Talon looked more like a V.I.P. rather than a passenger. Looking down onto the flight deck, Talon saw his duffle bag being loaded into a Seahawk, a Blackhawk meant for the Navy. It was already 0600 and he would be leaving in a helicopter in about 45 minutes.

Suddenly, Talon saw a splash in the distance. Using the binoculars given to him by an officer for the trip, Talon zoomed in on it. It was a Skauldron, a sea dragon that was huge!

Slightly impressed with the size and mostly disgusted that he did see a dragon, Talon shook his head and dreaded that dragons were going to be a common thing in his life.

"Talon Coaber?" an officer's voice called behind him.

Turning around, Talon saw the officer and Carter standing next to him.

The officer continued "This pilot wanted to see you."

Smiling, Talon walked up and hugged Carter, who returned him with a squeeze of his own.

"So, how're you feeling?" Carter asked stepping back from Talon.

"Guess." Talon replied, his smile disappearing.

Chuckling, Carter leaned against the railing of the deck the two were on. "I asked the admiral if the Flying Four could escort you, but he didn't like that. Instead you're getting two Cobra attack helicopters; fitting with your new call sign."

Smiling weakly, Talon stood by his friend. "Well at least if a dragon attacks me, they'll take it down AFTER I'm killed."

"Oh come now, the dragons aren't just going to see you and flock to attack you." Carter said, looking at Talon "There's a reason why they still train there."

"But only I know what they can do." Talon said somberly "everyone there probably believe that dragons are just cute and adorable, which squeak if you hug them tight." Looking at Carter, then said "You've seen what they did to New York. You know what they can do. Especially when they've been trained."

Nodding, Carter didn't say anything. For him it was a memory he didn't like to dwell on.

"I'll be going in with a pretty grim view of dragons." Talon finished with, looking at the business of the flight deck.

"Well go there to help the institute." Carter said patting Talon's back. "Help them see the other side of the dragons. Don't be mean of course, but teach them that there is a danger to everything."

"I think America is perfect example of that." Talon replied quickly "I don't thi-"

"Listen to yourself!" Carter almost shouted "You're being such a pessimist. You think that would have helped us during the last simulation that we did? Do you think that we would have beat three of the Flying Four pilots if we went with an attitude like this: 'Oh man…there's no way we can win! Three against two…and all that the three have to do is shoot down the 747…' No, we didn't. We took it as a challenge and we rose to the expectation. You Talon, and you only, have been given a challenge. So what are you going to do? Are you going to rise or fall?"

Talon chewed on this for a bit. Carter always seemed to know what to say for the occasion. "Well there's the instruction I was waiting for!" Looking at Carter square in the eye, Talon then promised "Carter. I will do everything in my power to make it a good experience; even if it means that I only raise awareness of what dragons can do."

"Good." Carter said smiling "I know you will." Looking at his watch, Carter then said: "I better get to the briefing room; we're going to be flying a CAP in an hour."

"Tell the guys that I'll miss them, and tell Jackson to hone in on his skills. I want a challenge next time we're in the simulation!" Talon said, shaking his friend's hand.

"Don't worry I will!" Carter said walking through the doorway "Oh, one more thing Talon. Get a girlfriend will you?"

Laughing, Talon just said: "No promises there! But if I do, I'll make sure she's a 10!"

Laughing also, Carter then disappeared into the maze of halls.

Turning back to the face the ocean, Talon smiled at the thought of his friend. A half hour went by, and Talon was picked up by the officer that was in charge of him. Walking through the hallways, he eventually walked out onto the flight deck. His dad was just outside, waiting for him.

"Well son…Good luck!" Jason said, grabbing his son in his arms. Holding him for a second, Jason finally let go and asked "Still mad?"

"Plenty mad…" Talon said "but I'll give it my best shot…I always will."

"I know you will, that's what defines you…and who knows! You may find a future you'll want to pursue instead!" Jason said smiling.

"Don't hold your breath!" Talon said smiling a little "I love your persistence!"

Standing back from Talon, Jason said "Well, where did you think you got yours from?"

Smiling, Talon hugged his dad again, this time with more emotion. Stepping back, Talon was then escorted by two men to the Seahawk. The two Cobras were already up in the air, waiting for Talon to get in. Stepping onto the helicopter, Talon was handed a headset. Putting it on, he then said into the microphone: "I'm set, let's go."

Almost instantly, the helicopter responded and began to lift up into the air.

"About 30 minutes for our ETA!" The pilot said in the radio.

"Take your time! I'm not in a huge hurry…" Talon said resting against the seat he was in.

* * *

Jon Sharpp was waiting for his name to be called in front of D.U.T.I.'s main building. The campus was huge, but only had one formal entrance. It was surrounded by acres of woods and trees, perfect habitat for all kinds of dragons. With dragons flying over them, Jon stood in awe as he watched a Nightmare fly so low to the ground; he thought he was going to hit one of the buildings!

Jon was about average height for his age, being 18. He wasn't big though, almost too skinny. Wearing very conservative glasses, his professional look made up for his physical appearance. Jon was an intelligent person, but not nerdy in any way. He always took his education above other priorities in his life.

Next to him was a line of other kids also waiting to be called. He included, everyone was dressed for the occasion. Only 100 kids were allowed every two years to train their own dragon, causing everyone to dress their best.

Jon rolled his eyes as he watched one family roll up in a limo. Any more, it wasn't dress to celebrate what was happening; it was a dress to impress. It became a competition to show off one's wealth and social standing. Looking at the line of sports cars and limo's, even the private helicopter that landed in the lawn next to the drop off point, Jon shook his head in disgust. His family wasn't able to come, his dad being a surgeon and his mom currently traveling around Europe. Honestly, Jon was alright with that. He didn't want it to be a big deal anyways.

"Clive Swift?" A voice called out from on top of the stairs leading to the D.U.T.I..

Turning to see another teen, shouting for joy, walking up to the door and let in; Jon felt a little jealous. Even though he knew everyone was going to get in, but he couldn't wait for his turn.

While waiting for his name to be called, Jon began to hear something in the distance. Trying to hear whatever it was over the noise of the crowded lawn, Jon closed his eyes. It was a thumping sound…well, more like an engine…

The sound was getting louder as well, catching a few more people's attention. The sound was thumping, just like the private helicopter that was parked in the lawn next to them.

"Great…Another hotshot coming to brag about his wealth…wonderful…" Jon muttered as he turned to the direction the sound was coming from.

The loudness of the helicopter began to increase. Eventually, it sounded into two distinct thumping sounds. Curious, Jon stared intently at the direction.

Rising over the trees were two attack helicopters! Both armed with an array of missiles and rockets.

Someone screamed in the crowd as the two helicopters split off and circled the landing lawn. Jon just kept on staring at the helicopters as they hovered above the crowd. He didn't even hear a third helicopter, but felt it as it flew right above him. It was a bigger helicopter. One meant for transporting by the looks of it. All three helicopters had the U.S.M.R. symbol on the side of them.

"Is the bloody U.S.M.R. going to attack us!?" someone shouted in the crowd.

Slowly descending, the bigger helicopter landed softly on the ground. Two people then jumped out, one in a black suit with sunglasses, carrying a winter coat; and the other grabbing a duffle bag and handing it to the other. Shaking hands, the person in the black suit started to walk away and waved off the three helicopters.

Just as sudden as they appeared, the three helicopters disappeared. Everyone stared at the person walking towards them. Stopping about 5 feet away from everyone, he just turned and looked at person calling names.

Slowly, almost resentfully, every one began to return to the event at hand. Jon however, kept on looking at the stranger that just showed up. Was he part of the U.S.M.R.? Who was this kid? Hearing other kids being called, Jon returned to the speaker, who seemed un-phased by the random event that happened.

"Jonathan Sharpp!" The speaker called out.

Jon couldn't believe it! It was actually happening! He was going to train a dragon! Letting out a whoop of joy, Jon excitedly grabbed his two luggage bags and began to wheel them towards the entrance of the building. Stumbling a little bit up the steps, Jon heard the speaker announce the next name

"Talon Coaber!" The speaker announced.

Jon turned to try and see the excited kid that was called up, but instead saw the kid in the black suit begin to walk towards him. Not changing his facial expression, this Talon eventually caught up with him.

Talon, seeing the kid ahead of him struggle a little bit, decided to help him out. "Hey, need a hand?" Talon asked, shifting his coat to his other arm, carrying both his duffle and coat.

"Uh..sure.." Jon replied, surprised that the kid spoke to him.

Talon lifted one of the bags by its handle, carrying it so he would drag it up the steps. Being friendly, he said "Names Talon by the way. Talon Coaber."

"Jon Sharpp!" Jon replied quickly "Quite an arrival there Talon! Had all of us scared."

Chuckling a little, Talon shrugged, saying: "Well, sorry; I almost had an F-35 escort me instead of the Cobra's; would have definitely been louder!"

Turning to face Talon, Jon said "Well thanks for not having that!" He instantly liked Talon; he's already helped him and was being super friendly.

Talon also was warming up to Jon. He was a little bit of a cluts, but he was simple; not overly dressed, and seemed to be down to earth.

Walking into the lobby area of the building, the two were directed to a table with an attendant behind it.

"These are your rooms." The attendant said, handing them their own keys "You'll be sharing it with one other person as well."

Talon and Jon looked at their keys.

"Floor 4, Hallway 3, Room 19." Talon said, looking at Jon.

"Ah, Floor 1, Hallway 5, Room 3." Jon replied, a little heart broken.

Looking at each other, Talon then asked "Hey Jon, I know we just met and all, but I was wondering if…well, if you'd like to room with me?"

Jon instantly smiled, "Yeah I'd love to!"

Turning to the attendant, Talon asked "Excuse me, could one of us trade our key so we can room with each other?"

The attendant looked surprised "Hmm…no one's actually asked me that before…" Looking through some papers, she looked up and said "Well…give me your key, don't tell anyone though!"

Talon smiled and said "Tell anyone about what?"

Grabbing the key, the attendant switched some papers around and handed him his new key.

"Section 1, Hallway 5, Room 3!" Talon said smiling.

Jon gave a breath of relief. At least he'll be with someone that wants to be with him.

"Go to that person by the door on the left. He'll direct you to your quarters." The attendant said "Welcome to D.U.T.I.!"

"Thanks!" Jon said as he excitedly walked to the person pointed to.

Talon laughed a little, seeing Jon so excited about being here at D.U.T.I. Then it made him think. "Well, I was just as excited when I got my calls sign…I guess this is pretty equivocal." He thought to himself.

Both being handed a map, the two navigated to their new rooms through the maze of halls. Finally arriving, Jon was the one that opened the door, he having a free hand. Turning on the lights, the two stared at the bedroom. It was a pretty small room, being only about 10 feet wide and 20 feet long. On both sides, at the far end of the room, were two bunk beds. Instead of a second bed on the bottom of the bunk, there was a desk with two separate lights on each side of them. Closer to the entrance were two separate dressers and closets, again on both sides of the room. There was a window in between the two beds as well. On top of the dressers were small refrigerators as well.

"Well…it's bigger than an aircraft carrier bunk." Talon said smiling as he walked in.

"Wait, you lived on an aircraft carrier?" Jon asked with a look of surprise on his face.

"Well…yes and no. No for the reason I was never really part of the Navy; yes for the fact I stayed on one while the U.S.M.R. base was being constructed in Norway." Then pausing for a second, added "And when I was fleeing America."

"You're a survivor!?" Jon asked excitedly "Wow that's amazing!"

"Heh, not as amazing as you think." Talon shortly replied. Already he wanted the subject to change. "Hey, so what side do you want?" he asked walking towards the beds.

"Uh…I don't care really…whatever you want I guess!" Jon said, following Talon.

"Alright, I'll take the right." Talon said, setting Jon's bag next to the desk on the left. After hanging his coat up, Talon opened the drawers to his desk. Absolutely clean, nothing in them. Turning on the lights, Talon sat down at the desk.

"I still can't believe that we got into D.U.T.I.! Jon said excitedly. He was already unpacking his bags into the dressers.

"Yeah…never thought I'd ever set foot here!" Talon said, rolling his eyes to himself.

"Me too!" Jon quickly replied, not noticing Talon's eye roll.

Talon got up and unzipped his duffle bag. Pulling out his workout shirts first, Talon looked over to see Jon was finished unpacking his bigger bag and already proceeded to open the smaller one.

"So what's the plan for today?" Talon asked, resuming his task of unpacking.

"Let me look real quick." Jon asked as he grabbed the map that was handed to them earlier. "It say's from 8a.m. to 11a.m. is to unpack and get sorted out…Then at noon we have lunch at the main lounge area in the center of campus. At 1:30 p.m. is when the official orientation starts." Looking up at the clock on the wall that read 8:45 Jon then said "Guess we got a bit of time left huh?"

Talon nodded, saying "Yeah, maybe I'll do a quick workout…I missed my usual this morning."

"You brought weights?" Jon asked, turning to Talon.

"No, just a few things to help me stay in shape." Talon replied, pulling a pull-up bar that he could hang in the door frame.

"Heh, maybe I'll join you!" Jon said laughing "I never really knew what to do to well…workout."

Talon lit up. Someone to workout with would be awesome. Definitely make it less dull. "Yeah I'd love to help ya'! It's a lot more fun with someone anyways!"

* * *

"Where's the main lounge?" Talon asked as he followed Jon "I thought you said it was just right up ahead?"

"I thought so to!" Jon exclaimed, staring at the map. "This place is a labyrinth!"

The two were back in their suits, looking for the place where lunch was supposed to be at.

"Let me see the map." Talon said, pulling it out of Jon's hand. Staring at it for a second, Talon looked up at Jon, saying: "Well, we're in the right hall, but you failed to see if we were going east." Pointing at the map, he continued "We're heading west…"

Face palming himself, Jon muttered "Why weren't you the one with the map originally then?"

Laughing, Talon handed it back to him "Well for the reason to improve on your map reading skills. Come on, I'm hungry."

"You boys lost?" A voice called out behind them. It was thick with an Australian accent.

Both of them instantly turned to see a girl standing there, in black business slacks and a brown vest with a white under shirt. Her hair was a dirty blonde, almost super light brown with dark streaks running down. She was about 5'7" inches, a little shorter than Talon.

"Uh…well not anymore!" Jon stammered

Laughing, the girl extended her hand, saying "Sadie Bryson, a new trainer."

Talon, taking the hand and giving it a firm shake, said "Talon Coaber, also a new trainer."

"Jon Sharpp! I'm with him" Jon replied.

Sadie just stared at Talon, then whispered "Talon Coaber hmm….American as well…You're not related to Admiral Coaber are you?"

Shocked, Talon asked "What makes you say that?"

"Oh, my dad follows all the politics of the D.U.T.I.; when he heard that Admiral Coaber openly said that he has no reason to dislike D.U.T.I., he became an instant favorite of our family!"

"Well…strange, don't know why you'd follow something like that, but I guess since you're the only one that has asked, yes. I am related to him. He's my dad." Talon said, a little carefully, watching to see the reaction.

"Really? The son of Admiral Coaber?" Sadie said in surprise "Well it's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Your dad is an admiral!?" Jon asked in surprise, again "You didn't tell me that!"

This was exactly what Talon didn't want. "Yes, he is, but I just met you to be fair. Come on I'm hungry!"

"Man you've got to tell me more about yourself!" Jon said, still amazed.

"Would it be alright if I tagged along?" Sadie asked "My roommate just left with a group of friends and I'd like talk with some people!"

Talon turned to face her, debating to let her come. Finally, shrugging, he said "Yeah sure, come on! I haven't eaten since 5 this morning."

The three eventually made it to the lounge. Grabbing a tray, Talon let Jon and Sadie in line first. After getting their lunch, they walked out of the lounge into a courtyard, sitting down at a table in the sun, it still being a little cool.

"Can't wait until it warms up…" Sadie said, shivering as a small breeze passed by.

"Same…I miss the warm weather…" Talon replied.

"Where are you from originally?" Sadie asked.

"Well, I was born in the state of Washington, but lived in California most my life." Talon replied, taking a bite out of a sandwich.

"Well…the hotshot is a Hollywood star!" another voice called out behind the three. Talon was getting sick of people eavesdropping and butting into his conversations.

Turning to face the voice, Talon saw two kids; one bigger, maybe a little fat, while the second was skinny but tall.

"And you are?" Talon asked, giving no facial expression

"Doesn't matter. That was quite an arrival hotshot." The bigger kid sneered "Typical American…loud and like's their weapons."

"Well hello to you to!" Talon said, standing up. He wasn't going to take this from anyone.

"Now now," the kid said again "just wanted to get to know you, that's all. Tell me, why are you here? Do you actually think you can train a dragon?"

Talon fumed for a second, then decided to tell the truth to the…rude kid. "Well to start: I'm here because I'm forced to. I'd much rather be flying an F-35 right now to fight the Deprived; which by the way, will threaten your country as it did mine. Second, no I don't think I can train a dragon because I'd kill it before I had the chance to. I hate dragons. They murdered thousands of Americans and destroyed almost all the major cities. So that is why I'm here. Now you tell me, why are you here? Are you here to be an ass? You sure look like it tubby."

The kid almost seemed to be taken back a little bit. Then angrily yelled: "Oi! Who you calling an-"

"You, I'm calling you a fat little arse, who has an urge to jump into other people's conversations. Where I'm from, we try to be polite and wait to introduce ourselves when approaching strangers if they're talking."

Not saying anything, just glaring. The kid then said "You don't want to be enemies with me…Not with Peter Booth…"

"Really? Well Peter, I'd suggest to stop talking to me then. I have no patience with stupid." Talon spat back "And you don't want to be my enemy because I will kick your fat face in."

"This isn't over!" Peter hissed back.

"Funny…I don't remember anything starting." Talon replied. Turning around, Talon sat back down. He could hear Peter and his friend storm off, angry with the sudden turn of events. Taking another bite out of his sandwich, he looked at Sadie and then Peter. Both of them had troubled looks on their faces. Deciding to break the silence, Talon then said "So, what didn't you like about what I said?"

Sadie was the first say something and she did so a little angrily. "Why do you hate dragons so much that you'd kill them? They were used as a tool to…" Sadie was careful with her next word "end America. They didn't do anything to you!"

Talon's blood froze. This was not what he wanted at all. But fat face Peter had to drag it out. Looking at Sadie, he calmly said "Yes…they did multiple things horrible to me. One, they destroyed my country; I'll never be able to see America the same again. Second, they're the reason I'm an only child in my family. Only my dad and I are left of the Coaber's. Third, they were not tools. I saw them being told what to do by their trainers, while they were off of them. They enjoyed it too. I saw them make it a sport to kill people."

Sadie surprisingly had something to say right back to Talon "But what about your dad? He doesn't blame D.U.T.I. for the fall of America!"

"Neither do I." Talon said, finishing his sandwich. His appetite was gone by this point. "D.U.T.I. had nothing to do with the fall of America, but dragons and they're trainers did. That's what I hate."

"But I thought the Deprived had an actual military!" Jon asked, backing up Sadie on this subject. "Weren't they the reason why America fell so quickly?"

"Nope. Granted, it was a combination of both, but the dragons destroyed more buildings and inflicted more civilian casualties than the actual Deprived military." Talon responded "Look, I don't care that you guys want to train dragons, but you have to realize that they aren't the kind, loyal creatures that we see flying around us now." Talon pointed to Nadder that flew above them, almost on queue as he finished speaking. "Don't judge me because of how I feel about dragons, and I won't judge you. If I honestly didn't want to be here, then I would have never walked up those steps when my name was called."

Jon then said "Talon, I don't judge you; you're a survivor for crying out loud…but I'll be honest. You're only talking about the negative things of dragons. I think that when you'll see the positive things, your views may change…"

"I doubt it, but for the sake of peace and understanding, I'll agree." Talon said, finishing his drink.

Sadie then said "I agree Talon…I think you'll be able to see the good in them while you're here."

Smiling, Talon could only nod; but in his head, he was never going to change.

* * *

"Welcome to D.U.T.I.!" Doctor Granson shouted loudly into the microphone in the auditorium, causing everyone to cover their ears. "We know you're all excited to be here, and we're excited that you are here! But first, we must give you a tour of the rest of D.U.T.I.'s campus. We'll split into 10 groups of 10, and then each will go into different areas of the campus. Ready! OK, split up!"

Talon, Jon, and Sadie decided to try and jump into Doctor Granson's group, she being the one in charge of D.U.T.I.

Doctor Granson was a heavier set woman, with thick glasses to help her see, and always smiling. She's been with D.U.T.I. for most of her career. The current expert on the history of Berk and the legendary dragon Toothless and his trainer Hiccup. In fact she owned the original Dragon Book.

"Alright! Everyone ready!?" The shrill voice asked "Our first stop is D.U.T.I.'s dragon hospital, which we call, The Dragon Room. It's the only place that is designated to have dragons inside the campus. The rest are…"

Talon began to lose interest in the tour already.

It was hard to dislike Doctor Granson, for her bubbly personality seemed to rub off onto theirs. Talon himself could help but smile as he followed the lady around.

"Here we are!" Doctor Granson sang "The Dragon Room!"

The group was on a balcony, looking onto several smaller balconies that had dragons on them.

"We have a special sight for everyone here! We have a Night Fury!" the doctor said, pointing to a specific balcony. Everyone instantly turned, seeing the black sleek shape of the Night Fury sleeping. Looking closely at it though, Talon could see that it was missing a whole wing!

"Doctor, what happened to its wing?" Talon asked out loud, pointing to the right side where the wing should be.

"Ah…well…" The doctor's smile faded slightly "You see we picked this Night Fury up from South America; after a dragon cultist, from the Deprived no doubt, cut its wing off after they failed to train it. We have no idea how they managed to capture it, but what we do know is that it's not a huge fan of…humans."

Almost knowing it was being talked about; the Night Fury raised its head and glared at the group.

Staring at it for a few seconds, Doctor Granson then said "Right! Next we'll see what we do to help dragons return to the wild! If you follow me, I'll show…"

The group began to follow the doctor, but Talon stayed and kept on watching the Night Fury. It too was staring back at him, not taking its eyes off of Talon. Its gaze seemed to burn into him. He could feel its hatred toward him.

"Talon? What's up?" Sadie asked walking back to him "Come on let's go!"

"Look!" Talon said, pointing to the dragon "He won't take his eyes' off of me."

"I bet he does that to everyone that has a staring contest with him, come on! We're falling behind!"

Still staring at the Night Fury, Talon walked away. Its gaze never left his mind.

* * *

"Well, I hope you all enjoyed the tour around D.U.T.I.!" Doctor Granson said smiling "Now, then I know your all excited to train your own dragon, but that will come in time. Training dragons requires work from both the dragon and the trainer. So, a requirement while you're here in D.U.T.I., is to come up with something that will benefit dragons! You can take it any way you want to, but it must benefit dragons. You'll start training a dragon of your own within 5 months, allowing you plenty of time to research your project."

A moan went through the crowd when they heard this. Everyone wanted to train their dragon now! Well, except for Talon.

"Now now, don't worry, time will pass faster than you know!" Doctor Granson said smiling "right now, we better get back to the auditorium; we have to finish your orientation."

Everyone followed the doctor, all smiles. Excited to train their own dragon, a few people couldn't hold it, giggling as they walked. Talon however, was dreading the moment he had to face a dragon.


	4. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the late LATE update…been a crazy life of late… Well, as usual,**

**-Enjoy!**

Chapter Three

An explosion sounded in the distance, causing Jayce to ready his M4. Making sure that it was nothing near him, he continued to crawl around in an abandoned building; slowly making his way to the designated room. Passing slowly by a window, Jayce glanced over to see the Empire State Building. No lights, just reflections of fire and burning buildings. The pitch black night in the back ground was filled with smoke, causing an orange like glow in the sky.

Ignoring the eerie sight, Jayce began to call out quietly "Logan…Logan!"

"WHAT!?" Logan's voice hissed back obviously annoyed; his voice coming from a pitch black room ahead of Jayce.

"Oh good…I wasn't sure if you were here!" Jayce said with relief in his voice. He looked at the direction where the voice had come from. Being in a bombed out, abandoned, and slightly burning building; it was hard to see anything!

"Shh…I think I see the objective…are you going to help spot for me or are you just going to lay over there?" Logan whispered back angrily.

Jayce crawled over some rubble, finally able to see Logan lying down with a M24 sniper rifle. Logan and Jayce were a sniper team, assigned by the local resistance to take out a certain target. Splitting up, the two made their way to the rendezvous point; to which they had just met up. Pulling out his spotting scope, Jayce found himself staring directly at the White House. No lights were on; in fact, it was hardly white anymore. It was stupid for them to have to split up, but they did what they were ordered to.

"See the target?" Logan asked quietly "I just lost him…"

"I'm searching…" Jayce whispered back. Looking across the horizon, the burning buildings and explosions in the back ground made the landscape look like a window peering into Hell. "Wait…I think see him! Walking to the front door. See him?"

"Yeah, I got a mark on him." Logan whispered "How far?"

"325 yards. I don't have any wind age either." Jayce said, centering his monocular on a giant of a person walking towards the white house. The numbers on the screen were adjusting as he moved it around. "Don't think he'll be hard to hit…"

Logan adjusted something on his scope. Zeroing on the target, he whispered "Didn't think the Skull King would fall this easily…"

"Yeah, it seems too easy." Jayce quietly replied back.

"Well, let's make sure it stays that way…"Logan said with a slight grin.

Seconds passed by, feeling like minutes. Jayce held his breath as he watched through his monocular. The Skull King was now on top of the steps, about to enter the White House.

The sudden shot of the M24 caused Jayce to jump a little with the anticipation of the shot. Peering through his scope, Jayce looked in excitement as he saw the Skull King stumble on to one knee. "You hit him!" He shouted excitedly.

"No…he should have dropped! I hit him in the head!" Logan cried in shock, still staring through his scope.

Looking through his spotting scope, Jayce witnessed in horror as he saw the Skull then stand up and continued to walk in.

"How the- What the" Jayce exclaimed "How's he still alive!?"

Before Logan could answer, they felt the ground shake beneath them. Turning around, the two stared in horror at a giant skull of a dragon, peering at them through a hole in the wall. Jayce instinctively fired his M4, unloading his entire magazine.

After Jayce finished firing, the dragon almost looked like he was smiling. Without warning, fire entered through the hole, engulfing the building completely, causing it finally collapse; with the sniper team inside.

* * *

The Skull King entered the blackened building, taking his time to look around. Suddenly, a roar behind him caught his attention. Turning to see where it came from, he saw his Bone Knapper, Anguish, light up an abandoned building as if it had gasoline poured all over it. Watching it collapse, King smiled; whoever shot him in the back of the head would no longer be a problem. Feeling the back of his helmet, he made out the imprint of a small dent where he had been hit.

His helmet, as well as his entire skeletal looking armor, was made of advanced carbon fiber like material, equal to the strength of Titanium. It was painted with the color of what bones would look like; shaped to look like a walking skeleton. Thus living up to his title, 'The Skull King'. His helmet was the shape of a skull, covering his entire face; revealing only his eyes which were black. His forearm guards were larger as well, concealing a tank of flammable liquid in each arm. At the end of the armguards, above the wrists, was a small igniter. Having two flamethrowers attached to him, he rarely used them. Only in special cases such as the moment he was currently pursuing. Attached at both sides of his waist, were his two main weapons. A spiked mace, colored the same as his armor and a handle…a handle of a sword that extended out a katana like blade. Revolutionary, even for 2020.

Slowly taking himself on a tour of the magnificent building, King observed the paintings that hung on the wall. Eventually he found what he was looking for, The Oval Office. Smiling to himself, King looked around and saw that it seemed to have had a mini tornado inside. Papers everywhere, furniture flipped over, curtains torn, and windows blown out. Without thinking of it anymore, King raised his arms, releasing two columns of fire. Engulfing the room, King made sure that the room was completely consumed. Slowly turning away, King walked towards the exit, smiling evilly.

Walking out of the burned building, King saw his dragon waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs. Standing next to Anguish, the fire of the White House caused a deep shadow to appear on the ground of The Skull King and his trusted friend. Staring at the scenery before him, the orange sky seemed to almost conceal what was actually happening. A flight of Gronckles and they're riders strafed the Washington Monument, causing it to finally tumble. The sight of the building finally collapsing was awe striking, almost taking 30 seconds to fall completely to the ground. Standing triumphantly, with the White House burning and the monument reduced to rubble, King finally whispered to Anguish: "We finally conquered the entire country of the United States of America. No more battles to be fought here."

Anguish roared in approval, raising his wings in acknowledgement. Its bone armor painted a dull grey, almost black; Anguish was more terrifying than the Skull King. On top of that, Anguish was the last of its kind. The Bone Knapper was considered extinct; well until The Skull King came and proved the world wrong.

"My king!" A voice shouted from the smoke to his right.

Turning to face the voice, King saw a large group of people, marching in front of him with hands on top of their heads. They were being marched by three of his personal dragon riders, each on a Zippleback.

"A glorious day for the Deprived my king!" the center rider called out, ordering his Zippleback to stop.

"Yes…America…no longer exists…" King said, not in a loud or cocky voice; neither a quiet nor timid one. It was a statement. As all his comments and orders were. "Who are these unfortunate souls?"

"The local resistance, we believe this is the last of them in the area." A second rider exclaimed, sitting up straight in his saddle.

"I'll give you all a chance!" King said, a little louder so all could hear "Look behind me! Look over to your 'monument'! What do you see?" Looking straight at the group, he added "Go on, tell me. What do you see?"

"A tyrant's brutality and selfish ambitions!" A voice shouted. This was followed by a few hollers and shouts within the group.

Smiling, King looked down, and then back up at the crowd "Well…maybe that's what you see…those that have been blinded by an illusion for so long take the truth hard. No, I see a weak leadership…incapable to lead a people in unity. Your country was torn by 'political parties', mundane issues, and mass amounts of close-mindedness. There was nothing that made your country 'indivisible'. No, your country was meant to fail. Look to the Deprived! Look to me to unify all of us! I give you a chance to fight for unity and equality. Step towards me to accept the Deprived as the leadership missing in this world!"

It was silent; no one said or did anything. King continued to stand in front of the burning white house, now shedding a brilliant light amidst the darkness. Reluctantly, four people stood up out of the crowd and marched towards King. As they stood in front of him, King smiled and said: "Bow. Bow to your ruler."

With no question, the four bowed to him and then stood up.

"Excellent! Follow the rider to your right; he'll guide you to the refugee camp." King said with a joy in his voice.

Watching the small group be led away, King turned to the rider behind the rest of the resistance. "Kill them."

Without warning, the two remaining Zippleback's tore into the group. King walked over to Anguish, ignoring the screams for help and mercy. Finally seating himself in his saddle, King ushered Anguish to fly into the smoked filled sky.

Upon flying in the night sky, King looked around the battlefield. Crashed helicopters and jets were strewn all across the way. Remains of burning tanks and craters filled the streets and lawns. His own tank division was rolling down the freeway, towards the command center.

Two helicopters flew by him, each with spotlights and scanning bombed out neighborhoods. King could see tracers lighting up alleyways. Though the battle was over, small firefights were to be expected. Smiling again, King went into his own thoughts. "Finally. I have conquered one of the most powerful nations in the world! Just wait…Just wait until I have true power riding under me! I'm only a few months from my goal, give me those few months and I'll be the true bane of 'freedom'!"

Flying over a fence, strewn with razor wire on top, King made way behind a building laid out with sand bags and other defensive structures. Landing in his designated spot, King jumped off of Anguish. Standing up, he was instantly received by soldiers and personal.

"Make sure Anguish is taken care of. I don't want him angry again…" King said walking past the small group. Making way to the strategy room, King ignored all the men that were saluting him and giving him respect. Opening the doors to the strategy room, King saw a broad shouldered man, in an all-black uniform and white flat topped hair. He was wearing a short sleeved uniform, revealing a neat looking tattoo sleeve from his wrist to where the uniform started to conceal his arm.

"General Anarcia. Any news?" King asked, walking up next to the general staring at a screen.

"Well, I'm sure you know…Washington is ours. New York is still cleaning up, but things are starting to look up towards that area. From Alaska, We've conquered the USA! Congratulations my king." Anarcia replied smiling at King.

Nodding slightly, King studied the map of America. After a few seconds of thinking, he asked "When can our entire fleet be here?"

Shocked, Anarcia asked "You mean the fleet along the eastern coast? Well, within the night! I'll cal-"

"No. I need the entire fleet." King said, again not in an ordering way.

But my king! That will expose the western coast! The U.S.M.R. could come behind us and we couldn't stop them!"

"America isn't the end goal general. Just a stepping stone…" King replied, turning the map over to Europe.

"Oh…so we are invading Europe sir?" Anarcia asked quietly, as if not to offend king in asking such a question.

"Yes, but it's not the next step." King said patiently. Focusing the screen on a small island along the north coast of Europe, King said "We're going for Berk."

* * *

"Hiccup?" Astrid asked, opening the door that led into his room. "You in here?"

"Uh…Yeah! Hold on! I'm coming." Hiccup called back, scribbling something down in his notebook.

Astrid opened the door all the way, revealing Hiccup sitting at his desk, madly scribbling something down. Looking around, Astrid saw papers and books strewn everywhere in his room. Pinned to the walls in front of the desk were sketches of weird looking dragons.

"What's this?" Astrid asked, pulling off a picture of an oddly shaped dragon.

"I don't know!" Hiccup said with a little frustration in his voice. "That's what I'm trying to figure out! It's supposed to be a metal dragon, but I still can't wrap my brain around it! How does metal fly!?"

"Don't forget the metal rider! Oh and the skeleton dragon and rider as well!" Astrid added, teasing Hiccup a bit.

"Ah! But I do think I figured out the skeleton dragon though!" Hiccup said, smiling for once. Flipping in his note book, Hiccup pointed to a picture of a dragon. "The Bone Knapper. It's the only thing I can think of!"

"I think your right Hiccup!" Astrid said excitedly "I'm glad that brings some peace to your mind, but come on, our turn to patrol the island. Snotlout's complaining again."

Rolling his eyes, Hiccup closed his books and followed Astrid out. "When doesn't he complain…"

Walking out of Hiccup's house, the two were rushed by Toothless and Stormfly, both glad to see their trainers.

"About time you showed up!" A voice called out above the two.

Looking up, Hiccup and Astrid saw Snotlout hovering above them. "I'm always on patrol when you two are…well doing whatever you do."

"Thanks Snotlout, thanks for being so gracious while helping protect your home." Hiccup said, again rolling the eyes to Astrid.

Laughing, Astrid jumped onto Stormfly "Come on Hiccup, we can talk about the skeleton rider while patrolling the island."

Smiling, Hiccup jumped onto Toothless, who was more than relived to finally be able to fly. Within seconds, the two were already in the air; unable to hear the shouts from Snotlout.

Rolling through the sky, Hiccup was happy to get out for a change. Breathing the fresh air, Hiccup finally began to look at the puzzle in his mind again. "So Astrid, let's say that the skeleton dragon is a Bone Knapper. We know that it's not a literal skeleton dragon right?"

"I'd say it's safe to say that." Astrid said, agreeing with Hiccup while lining herself up next to him.

"So what if we say the skeleton rider is the same. I mean a human wearing bones over him…" Hiccup said, pondering his own thought. "What do you think?"

"Eh…I think that's kind of a stretch." Astrid replied, thinking of the thought that a human wearing old bones over them. "But then again, it's more of a stretch to think that an actual skeleton will ride a dragon, let alone, living."

Hiccup thought more on it, but ended up shaking his head as he kept on straining himself to come up with an explanation.

"What about the metal rider?" Astrid asked "Do you think that someone, even a dragon, could wear metal? Like the Bone Knapper; it's not actually made of bones, but wears them. Why couldn't a dragon or human wear metal to protect them!"

Hiccup's mind was already turning at this new idea. "Of course…that must be it! I bet the dragon has some type of armor like the rider! I bet that's it!"

"Still," Astrid cut in "the question still exists of when this will happen. For all we know, it could be next year!"

"I don't know about that Astrid, that's near impossible to figure out. All we can do is ready ourselves and anticipate the problem that we'll face."

Nodding, Astrid looked forward. "This is insane…why do weird things happen to us all the time?"

* * *

Talon slammed his tablet shut. Leaning back in his chair, he stretched his arms out, yawning in the process. For the past two hours, both Jon and Talon were studying the types of dragons and the environments that attract certain kinds of dragons.

"Done for the night?" Jon asked, sitting at his desk.

"Yeah; if I had it my way, I'd be done for the year. This is probably the most I've ever been exposed to dragons." Talon replied, standing out of his chair.

Jon scoffed at the remark, still staring at his tablet. Talon walked over to his little fridge and pulled out a Gatorade. Leaning against his closet door, Talon asked: "So what are you thinking about as far as helping dragons?"

"Well, a little fact about me; I was studying to be a bio-mechanical engineer." Jon said, setting his tablet down and turning to face Talon. "So…I was thinking of developing prosthetics for dragons. Repair wings and such. According to dragon history, Hiccup repaired Toothless' tail."

"Really?" Talon responded surprisingly "I had no idea about that…also sounds like you have some information about yourself that you're keeping from me!" Talon then walked to his chair and sat down in front of Jon. "Well, come on, tell me about yourself."

"Well…My dad's a surgeon, super busy actually. He wasn't even here when I was called into DUTI. My mom…well…I'll just say she likes to travel. I don't really see her anymore and I honestly don't really care. She's never really been part of my life other than giving birth to me." Jon said, slightly looking down. "Honestly that's been my life. I never really did anything except schoolwork and my personal studies."

Talon suddenly felt a little guilty forcing Jon to tell him about his life. "I had no idea Jon. Sorry about making you tell me."

Smiling, Jon looked at Talon and said "It's all good; you told me a pretty big event in your life, so it's only fair."

Nodding, Talon took another drink of his Gatorade. Wiping his mouth, Talon changed the subject "So how are you going to test your prosthetic theories?"

"Well, I haven't really gotten that far to be honest." Jon replied, resting in his chair "I don't really want to go and cut off of tail on a dragon juts to test a theory."

"What about the Night Fury?" Talon suggested, gesturing with his drink "Seems to be a perfect candidate to me."

"I thought of that also, but to be honest, I'm kind of scared of it. It's the only dragon that I feel that it wants to kill me." Jon replied.

"Heh, I bet it would love to kill all of us if it had the chance." Talon said dryly.

"What are your thoughts on it? I mean Sadie told me that you were just standing there, staring at it." Jon asked "What were you looking at?"

Talon took a deep breath, looking straight at Jon, saying: "I don't know…I just can't forget about it like I do with other dragons. I can still see its eyes; not moving and seemed to have a fire burning in them. It was like…I don't know, communicating with it? That's the best I can describe it." Talon took a second and finished his Gatorade drink. Capping the empty bottle, Talon added "I still hate them. I don't want to do anything with or for them."

"You've been talking about the Night Fury a lot lately though, so there might be hope for you yet! I have another question I have for you." Jon quickly threw in "What are you going to do? I mean you have to research something!"

Talon was pretty fast with a response, saying: "Something that helps us as humans to clarify dragons. They're not all what's being taught here in DUTI. I just want to clear up a few issues."

Jon nodded "Seems to be fair. I'll support it! So personal question, what do you think of Sadie? She's pretty cute eh?"

"Look at you pushing a conversation!" Talon said laughing "yeah, she's cute."

"That's all? Do you like her? Are you interested? Tell me man!" Jon said with a giant smile.

"I like her, but if she doesn't like me, then oh well…" Talon said grinning "But your questions have led me to be concerned that you like her!"

Jon instantly went defensive saying "Well of course I like her! She's a girl that shares the same interests and is very bright and smart! Who wouldn't like her?"

"See what it's like being on the receiving end!?" Talon said excitedly "Yes I like her, but again, if she doesn't like me then the world will keep on turning."

"Fair enough" Jon said smiling "Come on, let's get something to eat. I'm starving!"

"Right after you!" Talon gestured toward the door "I'll be right there, I need to type something in the tablet."

"See ya in a bit then" Jon said, walking out of the doorway.

Talon quickly grabbed his device and began to type frantically away. Finally, he had an idea that he could research.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"So…when you scratch the chin of any dragon, they will become nothing more than overgrown puppies." Professor Richards said, finishing his lecture on how to begin to tame a dragon. Almost everyone in the classroom nodded in satisfaction, scribbling down a few notes. Everyone was anxious to leave because they were having their first week long break since joining DUTI.

"Uh…Professor," Talon asked raising his hand. This brought a moan from almost everyone in the class. "You say that when we actually tame a dragon that it will lose its aggressiveness, correct?"

"Yes. That was the point of the lesson." Professor Richards said, leaning against his desk behind him. "You don't entirely seem sold on that idea though."

"Well…my only concern is the dragons that the Deprived used. You see, I was in New York and witnessed what dragons did to civilians." Talon let that last phrase sink in. "I saw them tear people apart. They killed men, women, even children. On top of that, they were relentless on buildings and anything else that was in their way."

"What are you doing!?" Sadie whispered angrily.

"That's enough." Professor Richards said, standing up quickly.

"Oh sorry, don't want to hear things that contradict your theories, I get it." Talon said in a very sarcastic tone. This caused a small stir in the class.

"Listen hear…what's your name?" Richards asked.

"Talon Coaber." Talon said with a grin, sitting back in his chair.

"The Deprived may have used dragons; but their back bone was their military, not dragons." Richards stated, trying to end the conversation.

"Well, yes and no." Talon retorted back "Yes, their military did most of the destruction among the U.S. military, but no when it came to destruction of the people and land. Regardless of what is said on the news, dragons are responsible for the slaughter of the citizens of the U.S.A.; thus disproving your theory that dragons become 'puppies' when trained."

"I see that we're out of time, class dismissed; and enjoy your break!" Richards quickly said, staring at the clock. "Mr. Coaber, stay here for a minute."

"Yes sir." Talon said with a smirk.

* * *

"Well, are you expelled?" Sadie asked as Talon walked out of the classroom. She had waited for him outside of the room.

"No unfortunately." Talon said, still having a smirk "but I did correct a few mistakes in the teaching curriculum."

"Why are you so stand-offish?" Sadie asked, starting to walk down the hall.

"Well…he was teaching a lie." Talon said, following Sadie "I can't let everyone think that dragons weren't responsible for America's fall."

Shaking her head, Sadie just kept on walking. Changing the subject, she then asked "So what are you doing for break? Going back to the base?"

"No, dad's not there; he's still out with the fleet." Talon said "Jon left earlier this morning, he didn't have class in the afternoon like us."

"Oh…so your just staying here?" Sadie asked, turning to face Talon.

"Probably...I don't really have anywhere else to go…" Talon said, walking past Sadie.

"How about my place?" Sadie threw in "I mean I think you'd enjoy getting out of DUTI."

"Are you for real?" Talon said laughing and in shock "You're not messing with me are you?"

"Of course I mean it; I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't serious!" Sadie responded, running up to Talon.

"You know what; I think I'll take you up on that! Of course, if your parents are ok with me staying the week." Talon said smiling, eyeing Sadie to see if would be a problem.

"Hah! My dad would be thrilled to have the son of Admiral Coaber as a guest! He'll treat you as if you were royalty!" Sadie said laughing. "I'm leaving at three; think you'll be ready by then?"

"I only packed a duffle bag when I came here in the first place; I think I'll be ready within a few minutes." Talon said, turning down a hallway that led to his room. "Meet you at the Commons?"

"No, just go to the main building where we first entered DUTI. I'll pick you up there!" Sadie said, turning away from Talon.

"Sounds good! See you in two hours!" Talon yelled as she fell out of his view. "Awesome" Talon thought to himself "A week with a girl that's pretty dang cute…even if she's not American…" Talon laughed at the thought. The Australian accent was more than Talon hoped to have in a girl. Maybe they'll become an item? Who knows, all that mattered now was he was leaving DUTI with someone that considered him a friend; even with his anti-dragon personality. He's burned a few bridges because of it, including Professor Richardss and Peter.

Smiling, Talon jogged to his room to start packing; and to finish a workout.

* * *

Talon stood in front of the main building, waiting for Sadie to show up. Dressed in his nice blue jeans and white skate shirt, Talon more or less dressed to impress. The tight shirt made his muscles seem bigger than and his chest looked like it was about to burst out. He carried his duffle bag in his left hand and his winter coat in his right. Talon was itching to get away from DUTI.

Suddenly, Talon could hear an engine rev up; with a nice whine to it. Turning to the direction the sound, Talon's jaw dropped as he saw a black Audi R8 drive around the corner and pull up in front of him. The right side window rolled down, revealing Sadie smiling at Talon's shocked face.

"Well…are you coming?" Sadie said in a taunting voice.

"Well, I don't know…I'm too scared to sit in such a car!" Talon said, checking out the car in a more detailed look. "I had no idea that yo-"

"Hey, come on! It's quite a long drive to my place!" Sadie said, gesturing to get in the car.

Talon smiled as the hood of the car opened up, revealing a small compartment for his duffle bag. After he set his duffle in, Talon gently closed hood. Making sure it was secure, Talon jogged to the passenger side of the car, ironically the driver's side if it was an American car. Sitting himself in, Talon quickly buckled himself up.

"When were you going to tell me you owned an R8?" Talon asked staring at Sadie in awe.

"Oh…I don't know…probably never!" Sadie said, giggling as she watched Talon carefully stroke the dashboard "You like cars?"

"I'm a guy. I'm a guy who likes MMA, wants to go into the military, works out every second I can, and doesn't mind a good fight. Yeah, I like cars!" Talon said grinning at Sadie. "I'm probably the most American you can find."

Laughing, Sadie shifted the car into gear and squealed the tire as they left DUTI.

Talon was thrown back at the acceleration, laughing as they kept on going faster and faster. "How did you get a R8? Did you steal it?"

"My family's very…well off." Sadie carefully said "My home has been in our family for quite a few generations actually."

"Ok, so wait…are from here or Australia, because I know that's an Australian accent..." Talon asked, in which Sadie just looked at him with a raised eyebrow "or is it British? I can't tell!" Talon quickly said, trying cover up his assumption.

"Well, my dad's side of the family is from here; while my mom's side is Australian." Sadie replied.

"So you're not from Australia?" Talon asked a little confused.

"Well, yes. I was born there when my dad was in charge of a dragon training academy. That's how he met my mom, she was a trainee there." Sadie said, staring at the road ahead of them. "Unfortunately, after a few years, people decided they didn't like dragons there. So, my father was forced to close down. He then came back here and this is where I grew up."

Talon stared at Sadie for a second, and then said "So dragon training is in your blood huh?"

"Like the military is in yours." Sadie replied. Facing Talon, she asked "So how did you escape America? Were you with your dad when…The Deprived attacked?"

"Ok, I have a deal to offer before I go into my story. As you can imagine, I don't really like to tell my story unless there's another story I want to know about. So, tell me why your family had to leave Australia and I'll tell you what happened to me." Talon said, sitting back in his seat.

"No other way?" Sadie asked.

"No other way." Talon replied, his face becoming more somber.

"Alright, fine." Sadie said "Like I said before, my dad started a dragon training academy. It was a little different than what DUTI is, because they focused more on…well, involving dragons in combat."

Talon turned to Sadie, unsure of how to take this.

Sadie continued, not taking her eye off the road: "It was mainly to show the government that dragons can be used as tools, nothing really else. The academy didn't just focus on that either, it was mostly taming and using a dragon. In short, my dad's goal was to involve dragons in our lives; like computers and phones. To be used as a tool as well as a pet." Sadie sighed as she thought about what she was going to have to say next. "The people began to suspect my dad of training an army to take over Australia. So, he was instantly branded a traitor. Shortly after that, the academy began to lose trainers because of the persecution of the locals. In short, he was a political victim. His reputation was destroyed and now he can't do anything to help dragons. He would help DUTI more if he didn't bring the risk that they might be training an army."

"So he's just laying back? Not doing anything?" Talon asked.

"No, he's now a business consultant, helping businesses grow and maximize profits. He hopes that those companies will stand by him someday to clear his name. It's actually pretty risky that I came to DUTI, that's why I never really talked about my family before; I don't want people making the connection."

"Makes sense" Talon said, nodding his head as if to testify that he agreed.

"So, that's my story; now your turn. What's your story?" Sadie said, turning to face Talon.

Taking a deep breath, Talon focused on the road ahead of them. "Well, a deal's a deal. The question is where I should start." Thinking for second, Talon then began, saying: "Well, my dad and brother were on leave. It was near Christmas actually. We were having our family vacation at a cabin in Idaho…or at least was in Idaho." Talon shook his head at the thought, and then went on "We were actually getting ready to go snowmobiling, when dad got a phone call. Jeremy and I couldn't really hear what was being said, but we did know it was serious when dad immediately told us to pack up. Only a minute after we packed all our things, a helicopter came and picked us up."

Talon pursed his lips right after he finished speaking. Taking a few more seconds, Talon continued "I've ridden in a helicopter with my dad before, but I've always been dropped off to go home in California. This time though, we went to Hill's Air force Base in Utah. That's when I started to realize that something was wrong. I asked my dad about this and all he said was that I was going to staying with him for a little longer. When we landed at Hill's, we were escorted to a C-17; waiting to take us to New York. That was when I asked a soldier what was going on. I was told that America was being attacked. California, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico were already overrun and most of the southern states as well. My dad's fleet was positioned in the Atlantic, which was why we were heading to New York. I remember flying above New York City and I could see smoke to the south of us. I guess I saw the frontline that the Deprived were at. After that we went to another helicopter, a Seahawk this time. My brother and dad immediately went into soldier mode at that point. When we landed on the fleet's aircraft carrier, my dad took me up to the bridge with him while my brother met up with the rest of his squadron, the Flying Four. No sooner had I arrived at the bridge, I saw dragons and jets flying over the city. Dragons landed on the crowded docks and in the streets; killing everything that was in their way. I saw a Nightmare melt a convoy truck full of people. The jets began to strike at my dad's fleet. My brother and his squadron were the first in the air."

Talon took a second to breath. This was first time he really talked about what happened, and what he saw. Sadie saw Talon shaking a little bit, then said "It's ok Talon, you don't have to finish."

"Ah, yeah I know." Talon said, sitting up straight in the seat. "But I've already come this far, I'd like to see where how far I can get." Taking a deep breath, he began where he left off "I remember watching my brother fly. It was awe inspiring. He was fighting against the odds and never even complained about it. I could hear him ordering his wingmen around. He was a leader for sure. He gave up his life to stop an F-18 from firing its anti-ship missiles. I remember he shot it down, but was immediately hit after that. He sacrificed himself to save others…I can remember the pain in his voice as I watched his jet crash into the bay. After that, a few dragons strafed where he had crashed, removing any chances he had to survive." Talon's voice was stammering. He could remember it more vividly than ever now, and it was killing him. "The rest of the battle I never paid attention to the missiles or explosions. I just watched the dragons tear into people, their riders cheering them on. I vowed that day that I would hunt and kill every dragon I could." Talon forced a laugh "Hah! I guess we see how that went."

Sadie didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say. "That's…I-I'm sorry Talon…I really am."

Talon just shrugged. He kept on staring at the road with his eyes, starting to become misty. After a few seconds of silence, Talon said "How about we talk about something else? What are you researching?"

Relieved at the change in subject, Sadie quickly replied "Well, I'm researching something that will enhance a dragon's shot limit. It's not much, but it's the only thing that hasn't been done yet…"

"Making them more deadly?" Talon asked in a flat tone. He really didn't like the idea already, and now he knew that Sadie knew that as well.

"It was the only thing I could think of!" Sadie said defensively "Besides I was working on it way before I even came to D.U.T.I.!"

"I'm not judging, just…concerned…" Talon carefully said "What if the Deprived get their hands on your research?"

"Well…I guess I never thought that far!" Sadie quickly said, a little anger in her voice.

"Hey sorry!" Talon responded, trying to quell the potential fire that may have started "It's just what I thought of, I didn't mean anything bad about it…"

Exhaling a deep breath, Sadie replied: "Its ok; it was just hard for me to hear you ask if I was making dragons deadlier…"

"I'm sorry, really." Talon quickly said.

"So what about you?" Sadie quickly asked, trying to change the subject "What are you researching?"

"Ah…well to be honest, and you can believe it or not; I really struggled coming up with an idea…" Talon said quickly smirking at his own kind of sarcastic humor "But, Jon gave me an idea, which he actually doesn't know he did."

"Interesting…" Sadie said, facing Talon. Then in a very jesting voice said: "please do tell!"

Smiling that everything was starting to relax, Talon continued in a more serious tone. "Well, the Night Fury…when we were staring at each other, I almost felt…connected? I don't know, but I think that dragons and trainers share a connection with each other."

Sadie quickly threw in "Yeah, when we train dragons we become friends. Friendship is the connection."

"Yes, well I'm trying to go deeper into it. I know it seems like a shot in the wind, but I think it's a behavior or feeling between the two…I have examples but I'm not ready to share them yet…" Talon said, resting back in his seat. "But in short, I'm researching what really connects a dragon and its trainer…"

"Sounds interesting." Sadie said, looking at Talon curiously "really pushing you out of your comfort zone with dragons!"

"Walking into DUTI pushed me out of my comfort zone…" Talon said, grinning slightly.

* * *

The rest of the trip, Sadie talked to Talon about her family. Talon listened closely, excited to see Sadie's family and also to get out of DUTI.

After driving past a few trees and fences, Talons asked: "How much longer?"

"We're here actually!" Sadie said laughing "Come around the corner you'll see my house!"

As the car rounded the turn, Talon gasped at the massive estate lying before him. Within the massive fence that wrapped around the meadow, was a red bricked mansion, covered in vines. With a perfectly manicured lawn and garden, it looked like a castle from older times!

"Unbelievable…" Talon whispered as the R8 turned down a gravel road. "This is your home!?"

"Been in our family for hundreds of years" Sadie said smiling "My grandparents own it now, but we live with them!"

"It's amazing…I'm completely blown away!" Talon said, staring at the enormous house that had now loomed up to them.

Parking the car in the circular driveway, Sadie, jumped out of the car and walked quickly to the front door. Talon stepped out of the car as well, but a lot slower. Taking a deep breath, he looked at the beautiful scenery. It was definitely one of a kind. Walking to the hood of the R8, Talon opened it up and grabbed his duffle. Shouldering it like a back pack. Talon looked up to see Sadie hugging and kissing another girl that looked just like her, just a little older.

"We weren't expecting you for another two hours Sadie!" the woman cried.

"Must be her mom…" Talon thought as he stood by the car. He was going to wait to let Sadie introduce him

"I know, but I finished all that I needed to do, so I just came early!" Sadie said smiling.

"Is that Sadie I hear?" a voice called out from inside the door. Walking out of the entry was a tall man, dressed in a black suit. He had a very conservative kind of look, very businessman-like. His demeanor was confident, seeming to know exactly what he wanted.

"That's got to be her dad!" Talon said, smiling now.

"Mom, dad, I have someone I want you to meet." Sadie said turning to face Talon. "I think you'll really like him. I mean I do…"

Talon was kind of hit in the blind side with that comment. Smiling, Talon began to walk towards the three on the front porch.

"Sadie! Why didn't you tell us you were bringing someone over!?" her mom cried out in shock.

Talon froze for a second, glaring at Sadie. "I thought you talked with them!"

"Oops!" Sadie said laughing at the Talon's face. "Must've slipped my mind!"

"No matter, you're here now!" her dad said stepping past his daughter and towards Talon. Walking to Talon, he extended his hand out "American? That's interesting…I'm Edward Bryson, Sadie's father as I'm sure she forgot to tell you."

"Yes she did!" Talon said, still glaring at Sadie and then focused onto Edward. Shaking the extended hand, Talon continued: "Talon Coaber; and yes you're correct with me being an American."

"Coaber? Like Jason Coaber?" Edward said in a little dismay.

"That would be my dad." Talon said, smiling slightly. "He sent me to DUTI and well, that's where I met Sadie."

"You're a fine sight here!" Edward said laughing. Grabbing Talon's shoulder and squeezing it slightly, Edward then said: "You and your father are welcome here anytime! Remember that!"

"Guess he really likes my dad!" Talon thought to himself. Returning what Edward had said, Talon replied "Thank you! I'm sorry that I just showed up, I was told that you were ok with me coming!"

"Well, you are 'ok' being here! It'll be a pleasure having you visit us these few days! Come, I'll show you to the guest room." Edward said, walking beside Talon.

After introducing himself to Sadie's mom named Lisa Bryson, who looked just like Sadie, just little older; Talon was guided through the massive house. Even though it looked old and very Victorian on the outside, it was surprisingly modern and had a warm feeling while walking inside of it.

"Here we are!" Edward said, opening a door.

Talon's mouth dropped as he stepped inside his room. It was massive! It was probably the size of his small military base home, and had a porch that overlooked the driveway. "Wow…this is amazing!"

"I hope you like it!" Edward said smiling.

Talon was just blown away as he walked around the room. Setting his bag next to the bed, Talon walked onto the balcony to take the view in. The small woods and hills just made the sight breathtaking.

"Why don't you come and eat with us? I'm willing to bet that you're both pretty hungry." Edward said, beckoning Talon to follow.

"Oh, alright…lead on!" Talon said, tearing his eyes from the beautiful sight.

* * *

After dinner, the family and Talon were sitting in a lounge area. Edward was talking to Sadie about DUTI and how it was treating her. They also talked about what Talon did for hobbies. Edward was immensely interested in Talon and his Dad.

Throughout the evening, Talon was just sitting and listening in on a conversation between Sadie and Lisa; enjoying the chair that he was sitting in and observing the paintings and decorations in the room. Suddenly, Edward turned to Talon, asking him: "How do you like DUTI Talon?"

Caught off guard, Talon quickly faced Edward who was staring intently at him. "it's fine, I mean, it's ok. If I had my choice I honestly wouldn't have gone."

"Whys that?" Edward asked sincerely.

"Well…" Talon was careful how to word this, knowing Edward was a strong supporter of dragon training. He wished this wasn't brought up every time he met someone. "I'll be nice but blunt at the same time; I don't like dragons. I honestly wish I had nothing to do with them."

Sitting back now, Edward eyed Talon, letting some silence set in before he asked another question. "Is it because of America?"

Sadie then jumped in the conversation "Dad, it's a sensitive subject. Please don't push him…"

Talon's blood iced up a little. "Why does this always come up!?" he thought to himself. Sitting up straight in his chair, Talon looked at Edward in the eye and said "Yes. And for what they did to me personally. I realize that you love dragons and support dragon training, that I don't condemn. What I condemn is when those that work with dragons refuses to see what dragons can do; more of what dragons do naturally."

"I see. So you think riders should fear their dragons instead of trusting them?" Edward replied methodically.

Talon rolled his eyes slightly "No, that's not what I'm saying at all. If someone feels they can trust a dragon, go for it. What I'm saying is people need to know what they can do. It seems like the world has ignored what happened to America."

"So you hate the teaching methods, but not dragons themselves?" Edward followed up with.

"That's a whole new can of worms." Talon said, sitting back in his chair. "I hate dragons on a personal level. I saw what they did to people. They were as heartless and emotionless as there riders were. They loved what they did to helpless American men, women, and children. No, I hate them for what they did. I'm in DUTI to show that to others…"

Edward nodded and then looked at his watch. "Oops, look at the time. We'd better be getting to bed. Talon, we'll have to talk about this again! I think I'm understanding you a little more."

Nodding in agreement, Talon said "Yeah, I'm pretty tired…thanks for letting me stay Mr. Bryson."

Smiling, Edward said: "Just call me Edward. And it's no problem, I'm glad Sadie brought one of her friends to meet us! Well, have a good night!"

* * *

Talon was sitting on a chair on the balcony in his room, looking over the scenery again. Hearing a knock on his door, Talon turned and yelled: "Come in!"

Sadie opened the door, peaking her head in. "Still awake?"

Smiling, Talon nodded his head, saying "Couldn't sleep with a beautiful view just outside my window."

Walking over to him, Sadie sat down on another chair next to him. "Hey Talon, I just wanted to apologize for my dad being a little…"

"Intrusive?" Talon finished, turing to face the hills again.

"Yeah…I did tell him you had quite a past, and I guess he wanted to find out…I'm sorry Talon." Sadie whispered quietly.

"Well…I can forgive you…on one condition" Talon said, with a grin forming on his face "You have to answer truthfully a question."

"Well, I guess I don't have much of a choice huh?" Sadie said, smiling at Talons humor, relaxing a bit

"Do you like me?" Talon asked bluntly.

Sadie was floored by the question. She wasn't even coming close to expecting that. After recovering herself, she smiled and shook her head. "Talon, you really are just a surprise from day to day." Looking square into his eyes she said: "Yes. I do like you. Frankly you never picked up on the signs that I was giving; even today, when I told my parents that I 'liked' you."

"That's what kind of finalized everything, just…had to ask." Talon said, a little embarrassed but smiling at the answer. At least one good thing happened today…

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, staring at the silent night. Sadie then broke the silence, saying: "I think your beginning to like dragons a little more…at least hate them less."

Talon frowned and stood up to lean against the balcony; and then turned to Sadie. "No…I still hate them…at least I hate what they're made to do."

"But your completely contradicting yourself! Your saying you hat what they're made to do, but that's the trainers fault! Not theirs!" Sadie argued, standing up with Talon.

Talon continued to look at Sadie, and then said "Look Sadie…I know that you love the dragons and your dad fought some nasty political wars to try and keep them safe in Australia, that I can respect. But for me, I hate them…I hate them and The Deprived; and it's not a hate that came from others telling me to hate 'em, or from those that fear them, because trust me, I don't fear them. This hate is something that runs in me. They're both the reason why my brother was killed and America's fallen. Those who are left of the Americans are fighting to survive because they never made it here in Europe or anywhere else in the world. I honestly can't explain why I hate them so much, but trust me when I say that this hate is my driving force to fight them. That and my dad are the only reason why I want to live." Talon finished. He was breathing loudly now with the adrenaline running through his veins. He was really tired explaining himself "I hate them, because I am pretty sure that dragons and trainers have the same passions. This is actually what I'm researching. That the connection between the two is strong because the two are almost similar in goals and desires…So, when I say I hate dragons, I hate the riders and the desires the two share."

Sadie just sat there and stared at him, almost searching for an answer. Not finding anything to say back, she sat back into her chair and turned to face the courtyard.

Sighing, Talon then said "I don't care if others help the dragons, but I'm not going to be part of it; I don't want to be a part of it…Don't judge me because of my experiences with dragons…please…I never wanted to come to D.U.T.I but my dad sent me to keep me out of trouble. Whatever that means."

"I'm not judging you; I'm just confused." Sadie replied, still looking into the country side. "Why do you talk about the Night Fury so much then?"

Talon took a deep breath and then took his turn to look off the balcony. "I guess because he has a hate to humans as I do to dragons. It's weird, I can almost…feel? If that's the right way to describe it, I can almost feel the hate in him; and what's weird is that it feels like the same as mine…"

Sadie looked at Talon and said "I bet he can feel your hate too then…he wouldn't stop staring at you when we walked through D.U.T.I.'s dragon clinic."

"I'm still haunted by those eyes…" Talon said, standing back up and leaning on the balcony "It was the only time I ever felt…connected to something. Honestly it scared me!" Talon then laughed out loud, saying "Funny, seeing missiles exploding, ships sinking, jets being shot down and I'm totally fine, but just looking into that dragon's eyes has caused more psychological damage to me than anything else."

"Talon, I think you're more connected to that dragon than you're giving it credit for. I'm betting that you'll come around with the dragons soon enough." Sadie said smiling slightly as she stood up and leaned against Talon's shoulder.

Talon was surprised by the sudden movement by Sadie. Turning to face her, he said "You know…I hope you're right…This hate is destroying me, consuming me even; I need to learn to let go." Talon said looking down and frowning "But until then, my feelings are staying as they are. I hate them."

* * *

The next few days, Talon enjoyed being with the Bryson's. But, time called for both Sadie and him to return to DUTI. Shaking hands with Edward Bryson, Talon said: "Thanks again for letting me stay…It meant a lot to me."

"No problem Talon, we really enjoyed having you here with us…Please, feel welcome to come back again! You and your dad more than welcome." Edward replied.

"I'll be sure to pass the memo!" Talon said smiling.

"Sadie, be careful on the drive back!" Lisa Bryson said, hugging and kissing her daughter.

"Don't worry mom, I will." Sadie said, slightly rolling her eyes.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure of it!" Talon said teasingly, nudging Sadie.

Laughing, the two parents stood back and waved the two as they jumped in the R8 and drove off.

Talon laughed as well, feeling the acceleration kick in. For a moment, he didn't care he was going back to DUTI. He had a great time and helped him clear his head a little bit. He was, for a few moments, happy.

* * *

Back in America, The Skull King walked down a hallway, followed by General Anarcia. Walking into a room being used as a research facility, The Skull King went up to a man in a lab coat staring at a diagram spread out on a wall.

"Professor, how is our project coming along?" King asked the man.

Looking up in shock, the professor quickly bowed his head and said "My King! I didn't hear you coming! I was-"

"Professor…" King interrupted "Your project is more important than a bow to me…"

"Yes my King, sorry…" the professor stammered "It's coming along swell actually; I'm just reviewing a design to be able to contain the energy and equipment needed to generate such a feat."

General Anarcia then asked "My King, what project are you talking about?"

"General, you'll see soon enough…" King said, not even turning to face him. Then continuing to talk to the professor, King asked "Will it work for the demonstration?"

"In a few weeks, yes." Was the swift reply.

"Good." King said, his skull helmet hiding his smile. "General, tell me, something…how long until our fleet's together?"

"The western fleet is still at the panama canal…They're really having a time moving them across." Anarcia replied.

"When they get here, make sure they're ready to leave…after I show you my…project, we'll be heading for Berk almost immediately." King said beginning to walk out of the room.

"It'll be done" General Anarcia answered, following King.

"I also need a team of spec ops…for we need to have someone with us as we go to Berk." King added, not changing his pace. "We need Dr. Granson. The person in charge of DUTI."

"May I ask why my king?" Anarcia asked quizzically.

"We need her to help us with the use of my project, she has knowledge that few ever had…" King said, facing Anarcia. "Make sure that we get her while we sail to Berk."

"Yes my King, that will be done also…" Anarcia replied, slightly bowing. In his head so many questions were running through his head.


	6. Chapter 5

**Welcome to Dragon Training! That's right; they finally get to train their dragons! Well, most of them do…**

**-Enjoy**

Chapter 5

"It's approved!" Jon shouted, throwing the door open in their room "Dr. Granson's approved to test out my prosthetic theory on the Night Fury!"

Talon looked up, finishing a push up for his workout. Not standing up, Talon replied "Really? What did she say?"

"She said that it would be great if I help it fly again! She said it might cure its anger to humans!" Jon said excitedly, running to his desk to search for something.

Rolling over, Talon rested on his arms. "It's not anger, its hate…I hope it works out too, but I doubt it'll ever stop hating humans."

"Aren't you a raincloud…" Jon said in annoyance, still digging in his desk.

Talon felt a little guilty for criticizing his friend. Sitting up, Talon quickly apologized, saying: "Sorry Jon, I didn't mean to…" His voice trailed off.

"Don't worry about it; I'm just excited that it'll actually happen!" Jon said, smiling at Talon "Oh, and put a shirt on."

"Why? Jealous?" Talon said laughing as he stood up.

"No, well, maybe a little…" Jon said, shaking his head and then continued digging through his papers.

"What are you looking for?" Talon asked as he pulled another Gatorade from his fridge.

"Some stamps…I have to forward a copy of this approval to a surgeon, basically to ask them to do the operation for me." Jon replied, pulling out a drawer and shifting his hands through it.

"Who you thinking of?" Talon asked quizzically, after chugging his drink. Sweat was dripping on the sides of his head, running down his neck.

"Ah, found them!" Jon said excitedly, pulling out a sheet of stamps. "I asked my dad…I told you he was a surgeon. He may not be an expert with dragons, but he agreed to help me."

"There ya go!" Talon said, resting against his closet door. "Looks like things are starting to look up for you and your project!"

"How about your project? How's it coming along?" Jon asked as he stuck a paper in an envelope.

"Well…it's…" Talon hesitated, and then spoke how he usually does when he can't think of a soft answer: bluntly. "It's failing…I don't really have any way to prove my theory. Unless I actually want to train a dragon…even then, the only one I think will work is the Night Fury, and no one can even get close to it!"

"Ah, that's true! Do you remember Peter Booth?" Jon asked as he sealed the envelope shut.

Talon only nodded while rolling his eyes "Of course I remember him…how can you forget an arrogant bas-"

"The Night Fury torched him a bit when he tried to feed it some fish!" Jon cut in. "He had to be treated for a few burns!"

Talon just burst out laughing. "Finally, someone realizes that dragons have a mind of their own. And it was Peter" Talon thought to himself. After a few seconds of laughing, Talon's head then snapped up "Wait, dragon training is in two days!"

Jon looked at Talon as if he was stupid "Where've you been the last few months? This has been the most anticipated event since we got here!"

"Well, anticipated for others…" Talon said gloomily as he sat down in his chair then proceeded to rest his head in his hands.

"At least you'll be camping!" Jon said, trying to cheer up Talon "Three days and two nights of trying to tame a dragon!"

"I'd sooner starve to death…" Talon moaned, not taking his head out of his hands. He really didn't want to train a dragon; he couldn't even take his gun for protection, even though he was allowed his knife.

"Come on, it won't be that bad! You'll see that dragons are almost more curious than…well…" Jon was trying to be careful about how to say this to Talon.

"Aggressive?" Talon finished for Jon.

Nodding, Jon continued "Yeah, I heard that they look forward to this day just as much as we do."

Talon just stared into nothing. He was still not excited to go 'train' a dragon.

* * *

Two days later, Talon was packing a small backpack given to those going to train dragons. DUTI's staff was setting up a base camp for those that didn't know how to, but for those that wished to go with a group or alone were allowed to. For Talon's bag, he had a black tarp strapped to the outside of the backpack and a length of rope. Rolling up a jacket and stuffing it in, Talon then zipped his bag shut. The black and red bag had a bold 'DUTI' embroidered across the front pouch with his name right under it, except in a vertical line. Standing up, Talon reached into his closet and pulled out knife with its sheath and strap. It was a marine styled K-Bar, with leather wrapped around the handle. Inspecting the straps and buckles, Talon then put his arm through it and then buckled it around his chest. The knife was sitting above his heart with the handle facing downwards. Testing the knife to make sure it would stay in; Talon picked up his bag and shouldered his bag. "Guess I better get going…" he muttered. Jon was packed since last night, so he was already at the meeting point. Locking the door behind him, Talon took a deep breath and then walked down the hallway.

"Going to kill a dragon Talon?" a voice called out behind him.

Rolling his eyes, Talon turned to face the voice "Only if I'm lucky...what are you going to do? Offer them some tea Peter?"

Peter, with a bandaged arm, and his goon Arthur walked up to Talon. Standing on both sides of him, Peter shook his head and then said: "No, fish actually! All dragons like fish! Of course it's a little more peaceful than a knife. Dragons don't like threats…"

Talon then smiled, "Well, if all dragons like fish, then I guess the Night Fury really, REALLY, didn't like you…how's your arm by the way?"

Peter's face turned red with anger, spitting out "At least I was trying! Only two people ever tried to tame that dragon!"

"Yeah, and I know who they're called: idiotic!" Talon replied quickly "Which means…that must make you…hmm."

"Shut up, I don't see you trying to tame one!" Peter shouted back.

"And you still won't, at least if you can't find me…" Talon said, turning his back on the two "Good luck! Try not to burn your other arm…makes life a little harder when you can't use both arms."

Peter, infuriated, threw a fist into Talon's head, causing Talon to stumble forward. Talon, regaining his footing, dropped his bag and turned around. "Big mistake coward! Try to do that again facing me!"

"Talon!" Sadie's voice shouted behind Peter. "He's not worth it!" moving around Peter and Arthur, she grabbed Talon and began to push him away from the two.

"Move out of the way Sadie!" Talon spat "I'm going to kick his fat ass in!"

"Talon! STOP!" Sadie shouted pushing harder on Talon.

Peter took a step back, but had his fists raised. Arthur also stepped next to Peter, ready to help.

Talon was breathing heavy, his eyes burning with hate and anger. A few seconds passed, seeming to be an eternity to Sadie who was still holding Talon back. Finally, Talon eased up, stepping back. "Hit me while my backs turned again; I don't care if I'm expelled or arrested, I will make sure you will never use your arms again! I PROMISE you that!" With that Talon turned and picked up his bag.

Sadie walking next to Talon; more like jogging next to him because of his pace. "Talon, just let it go…he's an id-"

"Sadie. Stop." Talon said, not looking down at her "I don't want to talk about it."

Sadie just looked at him and then forward. Dragon training was already not going well for him.

* * *

"Alright everyone!" Dr. Granson shouted into a microphone, causing everyone to cover their ears "I know everyone is excited to go and find a dragon to train! But before we let you all go, we need to make sure everyone understands a few things: First, a base camp will be set up near here for those that don't want to set up a tent or a camp can have a place to sleep. Second, there will be…"

Talon just stared at the forest that lay out in front of him. Already a few Nadders were walking out of the forest, inspecting the crowd of people gathering outside of DUTI. Sadie was standing next to him and Jon was just a few rows ahead of them. People around him gave him a few weird looks with his knife strapped to his chest.

"And last of all! Have fun and be safe!" Dr. Granson shouted, causing everyone to shield their ears again. "If there is an emergency, red flares will be shot in the air. Please come back if the flares are fired! Now, go and train a dragon!"

With that, everyone in unison stood up and began to quickly jog towards the trees and gathering dragons. Talon, Sadie, and Jon met up and began to talk about what they wanted to do.

"I think we should split up" Sadie threw in "I think it'll be a cooler experience for us!"

"I agree; I kind of want to do this by myself. Make it a little cooler experience for me." Jon replied.

Talon was a little frustrated, wanting to be with his friends while training a dragon; but he also wanted them to have the experience they wanted to have. "Sounds good!" he lied "I kind of want to camp on my own anyways…do you guys want to meet sometime though?"

"Yeah, how about tomorrow at noon? Have lunch at base camp?" Sadie said smiling, shouldering her bag.

"I'm for it!" Jon said; eyeing a direction he wanted to go "We ready to go?"

Laughing, Talon pushed Jon towards where he was looking at. "Get going…see you tomorrow!"

Sadie laughed as Jon nervously glanced at them and where he was going. Finally looking away from them, he jogged through the trees.

"I think he's excited to find a dragon!" Sadie said, smiling as Jon disappeared "Well…you going to be ok?" she said turning Talon.

"Yeah, but I don't know about the dragon's I'll encounter…" Talon sighed.

"Just remember what you promised me. Do your best to train one." Sadie said as she reached and hugged Talon. Without saying another word, she ran into the trees without looking back

Shocked, but smiling, Talon watched as she disappeared as well. "I promise Sadie…I promise…" He whispered.

Turning around, Talon began walking along the tree line, while staying near DUTI's property line. Before he dived into the forest, he wanted to check a spot to see if he couldn't find a certain dragon.

In the background, he could hear dragons roaring and other trainers shouting. He knew it was out of excitement, but being in New York, he thought he could hear them screaming…Shaking his head to clear the voices. Entering a small clearing, Talon saw that he was just outside of the Dragon Room, where they keep the wounded or injured dragons. Looking around, he saw what he was looking for. Sitting in a grove of trees, was the one winged Night Fury; staring right at Talon.

* * *

Sadie made her way through some small trees, opening up into a shaded clearing. Looking around, Sadie saw what she was looking for. Lying down, leaning on a tree was a green and light blue Nadder. It was so pretty lying there.

Identifying it as a girl dragon, she set her bag down slowly and whispered "Hey girl…how are you?"

The Nadder picked her head up, eyeing Sadie carefully. Standing up, the dragon spread its wings and straightened its tail out, warning Sadie to stop. Picking up the message instantly, Sadie froze, unsure of what the dragon wanted. Walking in a slow direction around her, the Nadder circled her, cutting her off from the direction she came from. "What do you want girl?" Sadie whispered, turning her body with the Nadder. For the first time, she was scared of this dragon. It seemed to be inspecting her, as if to make sure she was worthy.

The Nadder did a few more circles around Sadie. After completing a circle, the Nadder turned its tail towards Sadie. Making sure it wasn't going to throw its spikes, Sadie started to make way to the base of the tail, just like she was told to in order to train a Nadder. Feeling as if she was moving at the speed of a slug, she kept on moving along. The Nadder suddenly jerked its head back, as if to signal to hurry up. The sudden movement caught Sadie off guard and she stumbled backwards. Falling down, her blood was pumping. She never thought she'd be this scared, wanting to train a dragon all her life. Slowly getting back up, she moved a little quicker than she did before. Arriving at the dragon's tail, she reached forward and began to slowly smooth down the spikes. The Nadder's head then moved closer to Sadie, eyeing her carefully. Breathing heavily out of nervousness, Sadie kept on moving down the tail. Upon reaching the end of it, she turned around to see the Nadder's head right next to her. Slowly reaching up, Sadie scratched the side of the head. Instantly a soft squawk came from the Nadder as it rubbed its head against Sadie's hand.

Smiling now, Sadie relaxed and whispered: "Hey girl…That's better now isn't it…"

The dragon then almost cooing rubbed her head against Sadie who began to laugh, but then instantly stopped; for fear to disrupt what was happening. Looking at the green and blue Nadder, she smiled and whispered: "We're going to be good friends…aren't we Sierra…"

In response to the question, the Nadder squawked quietly and continued to rub against Sadie. In return, Sadie sat down and began to scratch and rub her dragon; still in disbelief that she finally trained a dragon…

* * *

Jon was still jogging through the trees, excitement running through his veins. He was still contemplating which dragon he wanted to train. Either a Zippleback or Nightmare, that's what he wanted to train. Reaching in his backpack, he pulled out a few papers on what to do to get the attention of a Nightmare. While he was reviewing the papers, he heard something snap behind him. Whirling around, Jon looked to see what made that noise. To his shock, he couldn't see anything!

"I know I heard something…" Jon said quietly "Or was it just me?"

Standing there for a few seconds to make sure it wasn't anything; he turned around and continued to review his notes. Again, he heard a snap. Jerking his head towards the sound, Jon peered through the trees. "Oi! Talon! Quit messin' with me!" he shouted. Not hearing a response, he kept on shouting: "Seriously, Talon! I thought you wanted to be separate as well! Come on!"

Not hearing any response, Jon walked to a few bushes and cleared them out of the way. Not seeing anything, Jon became a little scared with that fact that Talon wouldn't keep on bugging him if he was told to stop. Trying to piece it all together, Jon was suddenly grabbed by his backpack and lifted off the ground a few feet. Turning around frantically, Jon saw that it was a Navy Blue and White Nadder that seemed to be smiling at him with his back pack in its mouth.

"Oi! Put me down!" Jon shouted flailing his arms a bit "Serious! Drop me at once!"

On cue, the Nadder let go of the bag and Jon fell the few feet. After recovering from his fall, Jon stood up and cursed silently as he saw his notes all scattered on the ground. Starting to gather the papers, he realized that he was missing a page. Looking around he saw it in a bush. Beginning to walk to it, he saw a flash in front of him and to his horror, found the page was then stuck on a spike on the Nadder's tail. "Hey!" he shouted. The Nadder then started to walk away, at a pace that made him run after it. Whenever he got close to the paper, the Nadder would raise its tail, just out of his reach. Almost laughing, the Nadder began walking in circles, having Jon look ridiculous chasing the dragon.

"Well…having fun with my dragon Jon?" A voice called out to Jon. Once again, Peter and Arthur came into view.

"NO!" Jon shouted as he jumped again to try and grab the paper.

"Well, leave it alone! I'm training this dragon!" Peter shouted, marching up to Jon

"Go ahead! I just need to get this paper!" Jon replied, jumping up and finally grabbing the paper; tearing it in half "Great…" he muttered, trying to piece them back together.

"Good, now get out of here!" Peter said, shoving Jon away from the dragon and squaring up to the Nadder.

As Jon fell to the ground, he heard an angry squawk. Rolling over, he saw the Nadder raise its wings and bristle its spikes. Rushing Peter, it began to bite at him, barely missing his arm.

"Agh! What did you do?" Peter shouted at Jon in anger and shock. Then directing to the Nadder, he grabbed a fish from the back of his bag and tossed it to the Nadder. Seeing the fish, the Nadder then spiked it with its tail and then flung it at Peter's face. Ducking just in time for it to miss his head, Peter took off running with the Nadder spraying fire after him. Arthur, who was hiding behind a tree, also took off after Peter, weaving and ducking as if the Nadder was chasing him.

Jon just sat where he was and stared at the Nadder who now stood over him. Scared to death, Jon closed his eyes and expected to be fried. He felt himself picked up and set on his feet. Jon opened one eye and saw that the Nadder was just standing there with his bag in its mouth. Moving closer to retrieve the bag, Jon reached forward, only to have the Nadder lift it up. Frustrated, Jon sighed as he walked closer to the Nadder. Then, not expecting it, the Nadder dropped the bag in his arms; then began to rub its head against Jon.

"Wha- Oh!" Jon exclaimed "Heh, well…I guess that you want me to train you…"

Viewing the dragon, he smiled and said "I guess we're friends! Never gave me much choice now did you…"

* * *

Talon was busy setting up a small shelter with his tarp and rope he brought; in a small grove of trees that was directly across from the Night Fury. After having a staring contest with it for two hours, Talon finally broke away from the eyes that seemed to look right through him. He wasn't imagining it; he could somehow feel the hate that the dragon had. After setting up his tent, Talon pulled out his tablet and began typing what he had experienced. After finishing what he was doing, Talon stood up and looked over at the Night Fury who looked really annoyed at the fact that Talon was camping right next to him.

Curiosity finally got the better of Talon as he started to walk closer to the Night Fury. The Night Fury realized what Talon was doing and started to growl at him, standing up on all fours. Talon stopped, but wasn't fazed by the threat from the black dragon. "Easy…" Talon whispered "I don't want to do this as much as you want to see me." Waiting for a few seconds, Talon began to walk slower to the angry dragon. The Night Fury roared and began to thrash around, tearing up small trees and bushes. Not stopping this time, Talon kept on getting closer. The dragon finally stopped the thrashing and shot a plasma blast at Talon. Seeing it just in time, Talon dove to the side as he felt the heat from the blast behind him. Picking himself up, Talon faced the dragon who snorted; as if daring Talon to come closer.

Dusting himself off, Talon shook his head and walked back to his camp. "Typical…dragons are creatures that are dangerous and want to kill. I knew better, I knew better to think to give them a chance." So far for Talon…training a dragon has been a failure and his project was, once again, at a standstill.

A few hours passed and the sun was setting. Talon realized that he forgot a very important part of any camping trip: food. Not wanting to go to the base camp, Talon strapped his knife to a stick that he whittled and walked down to a small river to fish. Taking his shoes off, Talon waded into the water and began scanning the surface. Seeing a few fish lazily swimming against the current, Talon slowly raised his homemade spear and struck. He could feel a sudden weight on the end of the spear. Lifting it out of the water, he saw the fish stuck on his knife, wiggling to try and free itself. Smiling, Talon killed the fish and then tossed it on the bank. Going for more fish, Talon waited for them to come out of their hiding places. After a half hour passed, Talon held his spear in one hand and in the other he held three fish that he caught, or rather stabbed. Stoking the fire, Talon pulled out a small metal plate and set it on the fire. Setting a fish on the plate, Talon smiled as he looked up at the night sky. Since break, this was the first time he enjoyed being at DUTI. After getting lost in the stars, Talon looked across to the other grove; where the Night Fury was lying. It hadn't moved the entire time he was gone or since the incident that the Night Fury shot at him. Frowning, Talon looked at two of his fish. After cursing himself, Talon grabbed a fish and threw it at the Night Fury.

The dragon looked up in surprise as a fish landed in front of it. Staring at Talon's camp, it could see Talon in the firelight, sitting back down and attending his food. Rolling its eyes, the Night Fury laid its head down, trying to ignore the fish sitting in front of it.

* * *

The next morning, Talon woke up to a rude surprise. A Monstrous Nightmare had landed in the middle of his camp at began to break the trees holding up Talon's tent. Struggling to get out of his tarp, Talon shouted angrily at the Nightmare who didn't seem to care. Standing up, Talon looked around to see that no one was nearby, except the Night Fury who, again, looked annoyed that he was also woken up. Picking up a rock, Talon threw it at the Nightmare. "Get out of here!" he shouted. The rock hit it in the head, causing the Nightmare to erupt into flames and immediately turn on Talon.

Talon realized that he may have made a mistake, took off running along the forest line. Turning to see where the Nightmare was, Talon saw the shadow of it fly over and land in front of him. Turning around immediately, Talon dove onto the ground just in time to miss a stream of fire. Feeling the fire just above him, Talon covered his head with his arms. After the heat disappeared, Talon began running again, stumbling a little bit. Not having his knife strapped to him, Talon knew that fighting back would be suicide. Running to the Dragon Hospital building, Talon's feet pounded the ground as fast as he could. Blood rushing through his veins, Talon was almost to the door when he felt his body get knocked to the side. Rolling on his back, Talon saw the Nightmare descend on top of him, having one of its' feet land on Talon's arm.

Pain shot through his body as Talon roared in agony. Looking at the arm that was landed on, Talon was horrified to see that he couldn't see his arm. He could only see the foot of the Nightmare. Looking up, Talon's vision began to blur due to the pain that was surging through his body. He could only make out a faint glow forming in the Nightmare's mouth. Completely helpless, Talon closed his eyes, ready to die.

He then heard an explosion sound above him, and he felt the heat of it as well; causing him to re-open his eyes. Through the blurred vision, he made out a blue explosion and a black object jump on the Nightmare. He felt the weight lift off of his arm. Fading fast, Talon could only make out the Nightmare now writhing on the ground. The pain his body was experiencing was making it hard for him to focus on the black object. Shouting in pain, Talon closed his eyes to try and hide himself from it. Re-opening his eyes, Talon fought the pain and tried to see the Nightmare. Through a small window of clearer vision, Talon saw the Night Fury was tearing into the Nightmare! Losing the will to fight the pain, Talon began to lose his senses and then fell into darkness which mysteriously made the pain disappear.

* * *

Jon and Sadie met up at the base camp with their dragons as well as everyone else. Red flares were fired and as protocol, everyone began to return from the forest.

"Do you know what happened? " Sadie asked with concern in her voice.

"No…I was just feeding Hurricane and that's when we saw the flares." Jon said, petting his Nadder. Hurricane seemed to a fitting name for some reason.

"So that's his name huh?" Sadie smiled "This is Sierra, the dragon I found…"

"Heh, Hurricane more or less found me!" Jon laughed, and then proceeded to explain what happened.

"Hey, there's a stretcher!" Sadie pointed out, interrupting Jon and his story. Almost everyone around them looked at the direction that Sadie point to. Sure enough, two people were carrying someone on a stretcher.

"I bet it's a broken leg" someone said out loud. "Don't be stupid, why would they call us in for an emergency?"

Sadie stared at the stretcher, only to shout in despair: "Jon, its Talon!"

"What!?" Jon shouted, even more panicked than Sadie.

Ignoring what rules may have been, Sadie ran up to the stretcher. Arriving at Talon, she quickly gasped at his sight. His right arm was basically flat, bone crushed and blood pouring out. Talon himself was unconscious. Putting her hands over her mouth, Sadie whimpered as Talon was carried past

"Step back, we need to run him to the ER." One of the men said, rushing past Sadie.

Jon then caught up to Sadie and asked "What happened? How bad is it?"

"I think he may have lost his arm…" Sadie whispered; her face pale "There's nothing left of it."

"Wait…" Jon said "Did the Night Fury do this?"

"I hope not…" Sadie replied.

* * *

Sadie and Jon were both in a waiting room of a hospital. Sadie was pacing back and forth while Jon was doing something on his tablet. Whatever it was, he's been working on it for hours. Suddenly the doors opened to reveal Admiral Jason Coaber and the doctor administrating to Talon. The two stared at the decorated admiral with wide eyes.

"No other option…" Jason whispered coarsely "No chance the bone will heal?"

"I'm sorry admiral…we have to amputate his arm to the shoulder…the humorous and down is just dust and small splinters." The doctor replied grimly, not liking what was needed to be done as well.

"Thank you doctor…I guess that's what we'll have to do." The admiral whispered, his eyes starting to water up.

"Uh…sir?" Jon said timidly walking up to the two adults. "I have a proposal for you…well…for Talon."

"What's that?" Jason said shortly "Can you save my son's arm?"

"No sir…I can't." Jon said quietly "but I ca-"

"I don't care then." Jason said angrily "My son just lost all his dreams. He can't do anything that he wanted to do; he can't even do things he used to do!"

"Sir," Sadie jumped in "We're Talon's friends. He's been part of our lives since we came to DUTI as well. We want to help him. He's helped us!"

"Sir, I can't save Talon's arm," Jon threw in "But I think I can give him a new one; one that might let him do the same things that he does now, and maybe a few of his dreams."

"How?" Jason asked, raising an eyebrow.

"With this." Jon said, flipping the tablet around. It was a picture of metal arm with wires coming out of the end where it would connect to the body. It had two bigger piston like cylinders for the bicep and tricep muscles, while three longer piston-like rods made up the forearm. To be honest, it was a very close resemblance of a real arms bone structure.

"Will this work?" Jason asked, grabbing the tablet and staring at the picture.

"Well…it's still a theory that I was going to test on a dragon, but I'm almost positive it would work! The wires are nodes that are planted in the body into the nerves that would have used to control the arm! I think it'll work."

"Doctor…can you perform this…" Jason asked, turning to the doctor nearby.

Jon cut in again "My dad can, he's a surgeon! He was willing to help me with my project!"

"Will he be willing to operate on my son?" Jason asked in a tone with no emotion.

"I'll call as soon as I can…" Jon whispered, nodding his head in acknowledgement; as if to assure the admiral that it will happen.

"Call your dad…I would like to talk to him if I may." Jason stated, standing up straight.

"Yes, of course sir!" Jon said, scrambling for his phone.

"Thank you…what are your names?" Jason asked.

"Sadie Bryson sir, honor to meet you." Sadie said, extending her hand out to the admiral.

"Jonathan Sharpp!" Jon replied as he began pressing his phone's screen "Talon's roommate."

"Thank you for being here for him…it means a lot to me as much as it does to him." Jason said.

"Is he awake?" Sadie asked.

Jason shook his head, saying: "No, they put him on some drugs to help ease the pain. But…it was mainly to knock him out…sometimes unconsciousness is the best medicine…"

Nodding, Sadie added "We'll be here with him all the way…"

"Sir, my dad's on the phone…" Jon said, offering his phone to the admiral.

Taking it, Jason walked to the other side of the room and began to talk to Mr. Sharpp.

Sadie then walked up to Jon asking "Do you really think it'll work?"

Jon looked at Sadie and said: "I hope."

* * *

Talon woke up in a bright room. His eyes trying to adjust to the light, he looked over to his left to see just the outline of a window. Talon then re-closed his eyes and tried to think about where he was at. Then suddenly his right arm shot with pain. Instinctively, Talon reached and grabbed his arm to ease the pain; only to feel a metal rod. Completely confused Talon tried to open his eyes again and focus on the foreign object he just grabbed. "What the…" He whispered as he tried to lift his arm. Instead of seeing an arm in a cast, he found a metallic contraption that was now moving uncontrollably.

With the metal object swinging up and down, Talon shouted out of panic and a little bit of pain. Confusion was the only way to describe how he felt.

"Talon! Relax! Try to control the arm!" Jon's voice sounded with a door being thrown open.

Talon turned with wide eyes to see Jon, Sadie, and his dad run in. "What do you mean relax!? This thing is moving on its own and I can't get away from it!"

"It's your arm!" Sadie shouted "Try to control it!"

"Talon, it's a new arm for you…focus on moving it like you would normally…" Jason added, grabbing his son's good hand as if to reassure him.

Talon, still more confused than ever, turned to wildly swinging arm. In his mind he tried to stop it, which succeeded a little bit. His arm now stopped moving but had positioned it upside down and over his head.

"What is this thing!?" Talon asked loudly, still staring wide eyed at the metal pistons and rods.

"It's your new arm…" Jason said, sitting down on a chair near Talon's bed. "Well…we…Talon…We had to amputate your arm…there was nothing left of it."

Talon turned to his dad with shock on his face. "What do you mean?" he asked. Then it hit him. The Nightmare crushed his arm! He was almost killed until the Night Fury intervened! "Wait…so, I don't have an arm?" Talon asked quietly, turning to the metal object that hung over his head.

"Not your original one…a new one." Jason said quietly "Your friend Jon helped with it…"

Talon looked at Jon and said "What- How?"

"Well, it was already built. The basic structure was already designed with the prosthetic wings I designed, I just had to specify it as an arm." Jon replied, smiling a little. "It just going to take a little bit of getting used to, I mean, your brain and the little nodes are going to have to be calibrated."

"How long does that take?" Talon asked moving his head in time as his 'arm' swung down.

"Eh…well, depends on how much you use it…" Jon said "the more you try to integrate it in your day to day life. Talon…I'm sorry, it was the only thing I could think of to help you…"

"Jon, this means more to me than anything I've ever had. Don't be sorry. Thank you." Talon said, smiling a little.

"I'm going to have you transferred to the hospital ship in the fleet; I'll get your things packed." Jason cut in, standing up and putting on his uniforms hat.

"Dad, wait." Talon said with some alarm "As much as I'd love to be with the fleet, I can't."

"Why can't you?" Jason asked with concern.

"Dad, the Night Fury saved me…" Talon whispered "I'm the only one that it showed mercy, potentially interest. Dad, I have to stay…" As he finished saying this his arm flung itself out, almost hitting Sadie, who didn't mind at all. Hearing Talon say that he wanted to stay almost caused her to faint on the spot.

Jason chewed on this. In his mind he wanted to drag his son with him, because he couldn't help but blame himself for what happened; on the other hand, it was good that he wanted to stay; meaning that he was moving on with his life. "Are you sure? Is this what you want?"

Talon nodded "I'm sure. Also, my arm will show everyone there what dragons can do." Turning to Jon, he said "Jon. Help me do what I need to in order to get my arm fully functioning."

Jon only nodded, feeling it would be inappropriate to speak.

Talon then looked at his arm, staring at the metal. Little did anyone know, his hate was now a fire that would not die.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Standing in a massive room, the Skull King and his 30 most elite riders stood and visited each other. General Anarcia was there as well. In the middle of the room was some type of machine, shaped like a half circle with the open part opened towards the ceiling. Next to it was a series of components all linked to each other with a massive cable connected to the half circle.

Anarcia looked at the warrior riders. All of them had their melee weapons, as was required to be a rider for the Deprived. Instead of modern weapons, riders had to be trained with a more traditional weapon; such as a sword or mace. Though traditional, they were made of state of the art metal and alloy's, making them able to pierce certain metal's if given enough force to do it.

"My King…"General Anarcia said, walking up to the King who was standing by himself "Is this what I saw a few weeks ago?" gesturing to the object in the center of the room.

The Skull King looked at his general, his mask hiding his smile "Yes general, it is. Though a small version of it, it will do the same thing that I want it to do."

"Which is?" Anarcia asked, prying a little bit.

Laughing, King reached up and squeezed Anarcia's shoulder. "You'll see soon enough…very soon actually."

With that, King turned and looked at a scientist that just entered the room. "Sir, we're ready to start! Can I have you and your riders stand behind the safety glass?"

"No. We'll stay in here." King stated, not moving away.

"Sir! It may be unstable!" the scientist began to argue "We can't guarantee your safety!"

"Activate it." King said, unmoved with the potential danger.

"But my King! Plea-" the scientist persisted.

With that, King pulled out his sword handle attached to his side and extended the blade. Pointing it at the frozen scientist he softly repeated what he said: "Activate it."

"Yes my King." The scientist replied, giving up out of fear. Walking behind the glass, the scientist, along with three others who were manning other computers; he began to type fervently on a keyboard and then shouted in a microphone. "Activating sphere in 10."

Sparks began to fly from the half circle device, causing a few of the riders to back up. Even Anarcia took a small step back.

"5…4…3" the scientist counted.

Contrary to what the others were doing, King stepped closer to the device; which was now shooting sparks and small lightning bolts in all directions.

"…1…The portal is active! Prep the camera!" the scientist shouted excitedly.

Almost instantly, a white sphere formed where the half circle was. The riders and General Anarcia stared at it wide eyed, not knowing what to expect. "What is this thing my King?" someone shouted.

"This is our answer to conquer the world." King replied "If you focus on the screen, you'll see exactly what I mean."

With that, almost everyone faced a screen to their left. A little remote control camera then proceeded to go into the sphere. Connecting it was a wire that relayed to the screen, showing everyone what it was seeing. As it entered the sphere, the screen lit up with the same white as the sphere had. Everyone stared intently at the screen. Suddenly it showed a brilliant jungle…Lit up with a high noon sun. Everyone gasped at the sight. "Wha- Wh- How?" Someone whispered loudly.

"Portal collapsing! Can't stabilize it!" the scientist shouted in the microphone.

Sparks started to fly and then the white sphere disappeared. The only thing showing that such a thing existed, was the camera's wire; shooting sparks at the end of it.

"My King, please! What was that thing? Why's it so important?" General Anarcia asked, pleading in his voice. This was seconded by a few other riders.

Pacing back and forth, King began to say: "What you saw is a portal, a rift in time if you will. The more power we put into it the farther back the portal opens."

"Why are we going back in time?" another rider asked.

"In order for us to control the future, and the past." King replied calmly, still pacing "This was just a model, we have a much bigger one that will let us all fly into it."

"But why?" Anarcia asked.

"We're going to take Berk, that's why I asked for the fleet to be gathered. We need a diversion while a transport carrying the device and us, will sail to Berk. We're going to get a weapon so powerful, that only one person luckily beat it. We will not be stopped."

"But won't we be stuck at Berk if the portal collapses again?" A rider asked methodically.

Stopping the pacing, King turned to the group. "Yes, we will be. For 3 months until another portal is created. We will be back with more terror and death than ever before, even before the invasion of America."

* * *

"AGH!" Talon shouted in pain. His arm had just hit him in the side of the head as he tried to put an ear bud in his right ear. Since he's been back at DUTI, he's been trying to use his right hand for everything, opening doors, typing on a computer, drinking his Gatorades, even putting in his ear buds in. Each time he did so, something bad would happen just like hitting himself; breaking the door off the hinges, due to the hydraulic pistons and rods; even hitting a few people, which included Sadie, Jon, and a few professors. He did hit Peter on purpose though, to which he blamed his arm.

Jon then walked into the room, and seeing Talon staring at his arm with anger written on his face, asked: "Well, is it getting a little easier to control it?"

"Well, kind of, at least I can control it from swinging out of control, mostly." Talon replied "Still a little sensitive to do small movements and such."

Nodding, Jon set his stuff down on his desk and then turned to Talon again "Hey, just thought you'd like to know; the Night Fury was a success. He's got a metal prosthetic wing, though he hasn't done anything using it."

"Granson still let you perform your project on it?" Talon asked quizzically.

"Yeah, especially after she saw what happened to you. You're the reason why it was set into motion. It was cancelled until they could figure out what happened. Did that Night Fury really jump in and save you?" Jon asked.

"Well…vision was blurring from the pain, but whatever knocked that Nightmare off of me was black and sleek. I got one good focus on it to which I deemed was the Night Fury." Talon replied as he picked up his bag that had his tablet and other gear.

"Where you going?" Jon asked, raising his eyebrow.

"To the training grounds. I'm going to visit the Night Fury again." Talon sighed, putting on a jacket. When Talon got back, he tore all his right sleeves on his jackets and long sleeved shirts to expose his arm. He was going to make himself a billboard to show what dragons can do.

"Are you sure about going out tonight?" Jon asked "It's supposed to rain tonight, no wait, storm tonight."

"I know, I'll just be an hour; see if I can't make a little progress with the Night Fury." Talon said opening the door.

"Kinda weird that it's not really…warming up to you; I mean, if it saved you why is it ignoring you?" Jon added.

Talon shrugged and said "I don't know…I'm beginning to think that it was just annoyed by the Nightmare. See you in a bit."

Shutting the door, Talon began to walk away. Thinking about the last two weeks, Talon was quite frustrated that the Night Fury was basically ignoring him. More than one occasion, the dragon shot a plasma blast at him. He actually was ready to stop, leave DUTI and go to fleet. He couldn't believe that he thought he could train the hateful Night Fury.

Talon turned down the hall towards a door that led out to the forest. Opening the door, Talon replayed in his mind what Sadie told him, which more or less kept him from leaving.

* * *

"Come on Talon, you wanted to stay, remember?" Sadie argued.

"Yeah, because I thought I was getting somewhere with the Night Fury. I thought that we had connected with our hate." Talon said, throwing his arms up in the air; his metal arm flying outwards a little crazier. They were sitting outside at a bench, watching Sierra sleep in front of them. "I was stupid to think that the Night Fury actually cared about me. I should have gone with my dad back to the fleet."

"Never mind the friends you made? Never mind that you still chose to come back here?" Sadie argued.

Talon just shook his head, to which Sadie asked "Why do you think the Night Fury saved you?"

"Don't know." Talon said, looking at Sierra, who stirred a little bit. "I honestly don't know. I first thought it was because we connected somehow with our hate, but that theory was blown away."

"Maybe it was just the moment." Sadie suggested "What if it was that single moment that it didn't hate humans?"

"Doubt it." Talon said flatly "Even though the Night Fury saved me, I still hate dragons. I may have done something nice for him before, but he still hates me; I mean I still feel it! It's not something that you just drop when something nice happens to you."

"So why did the Night Fury help you?" Sadie asked frustrated "You hit the Nightmare, it could've cared less if you lived or died!"

"That's why I think that I somehow connected with him; with our hate." Talon said methodically "I honestly don't know why it helped me, all I know is that it did."

"But what now?" Sadie urged "How do we get it to not hate you?"

"We don't." Talon replied simply "I can't change what hates me; I of all people know that. It's up to whoever or whatever hates. It may have showed a little mercy, but I don't think it actually wants to get to know me." Talon paused for a second then added "Or to stop hating humans."

"Talon, let's say that it still hates you" Sadie threw in, trying to get somewhere with Talon "Why did it decide to save you?"

"You're sounding like a broken record!" Talon said angrily "I told you what I thought, but I can't give you the exact reason."

"No, no, bear with me" Sadie urged "I'm not asking for a reason, just a thought on it. Why did it save you? According to all DUTI history, only four people tried to train the Night Fury. All of them failed…" Sadie then bluntly added "including you."

"Thanks." Talon said, rolling his eyes.

"But you're the first that it ever showed any kind of acceptance! You're the first to really make ground with it, even if it's an inch!" Sadie said with excitement "Talon, you walk away from it, you might not be able to get it back."

Talon chewed on this for a minute, looking down and not saying anything. She was right; he was the first that it showed any kind of acceptance. Looking at Sadie, he said "Fine. I'll stay. But don't think I'll make progress with it…" Talon warned "it's still a shot in the dark."

"But a better shot than most." Sadie smiled as she stood up to wake up Sierra "Come on, let's go for a walk."

* * *

Talon closed the memory as he began to get walk near the grove of trees where the Night Fury usually resided. Jon wasn't kidding when he said it was supposed to storm; the clouds were turning a dark blue almost black color, while the smell of rain was strong in the air. Zipping up his jacket a little higher, Talon re-adjusted his backpack and walked to where the Night Fury was at a quicker pace.

Upon arriving at his old camp, Talon saw the black dragon; its back was turned away. "Guess you knew I was coming huh?" Talon said quietly. Using his metal arm, he let down his bag and sat down on a stump. Making sure the Night Fury wasn't going to turn and shoot at him, Talon proceeded to open his bag and pull out his tablet. So far his entire theory of having dragons and trainers connected by something deeper was failing amazingly. Swiping the screen with his new arm, Talon smiled slightly as the screen responded to the touch of the metal fingers. Jon anticipated the problem of touch screens not responding to his new hand, so he put a small thin layer of rubber used on gloves to decoy the screen to thinking an actual finger was swiping. Putting away the thought of the rubber, Talon looked up from his screen and stared at the Night Fury, its metal wing now showing. It was awe inspiring really; to be able to replace such a key feature as a wing, or in Talon's case, an arm.

Thinking of Sadie's question, in a much different way, he softly asked himself "Why did you save me? What made you want to get up, tackle a Nightmare, get blamed for attacking me, and to just turn a cold shoulder to the one you helped." Talon tried to put himself in its shoes: "If you were being attacked…would I come to help you? If so…what's my reason?" Talon thought long and hard on this then decided that he would help the Night Fury if it was unable to help itself…much to his distain; probably how the dragon felt about him.

Talon then began to type on his tablet what he came up with. Looking at the black clouds overhead, Talon thought of something he never really noticed before. "Why do I want to train the Night Fury? There are other dragons that would love to be trained, but I want to train the Night Fury. Why?" The thought of him actually admitting to want to train the black beast made him shudder a bit; that was something he never thought he'd admit to. "Ok, so I hate you, and you obviously hate me…what's the connection? What is my theory supposed to connect here?"

Talon looked at the Night Fury, still un-moving. "Wait a second…" Talon whispered, his mind racing at a thought "We may hate each other, but what connected us wasn't the hate towards one another, it was hate that we had in common…we hated that Nightmare! You saw that I was helpless and you decided to help me against a common enemy! We don't need to re-direct our hate, just focus both of ours on a common object."

Excitedly, Talon began to type on his tablet, his metal arm frequently moving out of control due to the excitement in his brain. While he was typing furiously, he noticed a few water drops appear on his the screen of his tablet. Looking up, Talon saw that the storm sitting straight above him. Quickly packing up his bag, he smiled as kept reviewing his discovery. The rain started to come down harder, in sheets that soaked Talon even in his jacket. Beginning to run to where he came from, he turned to look at the Night Fury one more time.

It was getting soaked and wasn't even trying to make an effort to find cover or shield itself from the relentless torrents of water. Stopping, Talon stared at the Night Fury. Being torn by something inside, Talon rolled his eyes and set his bag down. Making sure it was under some cover from the rain, Talon pulled out his knife and began to jog to the Night Fury.

Sensing someone very nearby, the Night Fur looked up to see Talon staring at it. Growling, the Night Fury tried to scare away the common nuisance, but hardly had anything to back it up. It was depressed; tired of being annoyed by humans, homesick for flying, and now had a metal sheet attached to it. It was not in the mood to be aggressive.

Talon, making sure the Night Fury wasn't going to turn on him, began to cut furiously at small trees within the grove. With the razor sharp blade and his mechanical arm, Talon was surprise at how well his arm functioned as he struck at tree branches and whittled at some sticks. The Night Fury, having its eyes closed most of the time, finally looked up to see what the annoying human was doing. Surprised for second, it saw Talon climbing a tree while holding long limbs of trees that fell to his blade. Setting himself up against a tree, Talon carefully laid the long branches over the Night Fury and to the other side of the small clearing where the Night Fury laid. Making sure the branches wouldn't move, Talon jumped down from his perch; the whole ordeal took about ten minutes. Splashing in the mud, Talon looked over himself; his shoes were completely covered in mud as well as his lower legs. Soaked, Talon watched water run off of his left sleeve and his right metal arm.

"Good thing its' water proof…" Talon whispered angrily. Forgetting his temporary misery, Talon began to hack at limbs with lots of leaves and foliage. Talon then threw them over the limbs hanging over the dragon. Starting to see his shelter take shape, Talon smiled as he continued to cut and set up the limbs over the Night Fury. After another long ten minutes, Talon stood back and saw that it was keeping most of the rain off the dragon. Turning around, Talon could see the door where he came from; above it was a light indicating it was open. Walking to where his bag was, Talon looked up at the pitch black night in awe. It had completely absorbed all the light that may have existed. It was almost eerie. Picking up his bag, Talon looked at the door and saw the light turned off. Panicked, Talon ran to the door and tried to open it. Nothing moved. Pounding on the door, Talon yelled in anger for someone to let him in. After pounding on the door and shouting until he was a little light headed, Talon tried to open the door one more time; out of desperation. Grabbing it with his new arm, Talon gripped and pushed down on the handle.

The only thing that moved was the actual handle, not the mechanics in the door. Holding the remnants of the handle in his hand, Talon stared at it, the door, and then his arm. He forgot that hydraulics were his muscles now, letting him do what he didn't want to do.

Not saying anything, Talon just closed his eyes and looked up into the endless black sky above him; letting out a sigh of frustration and sorrow. He left his phone in his room, thinking he would only be an hour, and Jon was probably sleeping now anyways. Slowly, he began to walk back to the Night Fury. It had the only shelter that was near him.

Walking slowly to the Night Fury, Talon edged as close as he dared to the shelter, trying to get covered from the rain as much as he could. The Night Fury raised its' head to stare Talon down. It was the first time Talon saw its' eyes so close; they were a black, not empty black, but a light black with a hint of gray in them. Again, Talon was mesmerized by the stare…he could still feel a hate, maybe not towards him as much, but a hate that was still very real. Trying to shake the feeling, Talon said out loud, as if to ask the Night Fury: "Can I stay here? I mean I did build it for you."

The only thing the Night Fury did was growl at Talon, warning him to back off. Frustrated, Talon sat down at the very edge of the shelter. Resting against a tree, Talon tried to close his eyes and focus on getting some sleep; which was really hard to do because he was soaked, cold, couldn't sleep in his bed, kicked out of his shelter that he built as a gift, and was sleeping with an animal that hated him. Trying to put himself at ease; Talon heard something different, something that wasn't rain or wind in the trees. It was a soft sound…almost a humming. It sounded like his arm. Opening his eyes, Talon quickly looked at his arm to see if it was moving on its own again. To his shock, it wasn't. "But…what's that sound then?" Talon whispered as he looked up. To his surprise, the Night Fury was trying to extend its metal wing. Talon stared as the Night Fury, who was so focused on opening its wing, began to extend the new appendage. "Come on boy…you got it…" Talon whispered as he sat there to witness this event.

Slowly, and rather shakily, the wing began to extend over Talon. Feeling the rain cease to fall on him, Talon silently cheered the Night Fury on; it was struggling through the same thing that he went through, in fact was still going through. Learning how to control this second chance given to both of them. Remarkably, the Night Fury had fully extended his wing, sheltering Talon from the rain.

"Thank you…" Talon whispered as he began to rub his arms to warm up. In response, the Night Fury shot a small plasma blast at the ground in between them, splattering mud all around. After Talon wiped his face from the mud, he saw that the Night Fury had lit a small fire! Well more of a glowing crater, but still had an amount of heat to it. Talon's body welcomed the warmth as it began to feel the heat.

"Thanks again…" Talon whispered, staring at the Night Fury, who in turn stared at him. Though he could still feel hate, Talon wasn't scared or paralyzed by it. "I think we finally achieved something…" Talon said, smiling ever so slightly "What do you think?"

* * *

"How did you not notice he wasn't there!?" Sadie shouted as she ran down a hallway.

"I don't know! It was late, he went out and I went to bed!" Jon replied following Sadie.

"Just hurry dears." Dr. Granson said who was lagging behind the two a bit "I hope he's ok! I don't want him to have another accident!"

Sadie didn't hear what the doctor said; she was too focused on the door that seemed to never get close, no matter how hard she ran. Finally reaching the door, she noticed it was still locked. "Doctor! Do you have a key to the door!?"

"Just a second dear, let me see the door." Granson said, pulling out a key. Inserting the key, Dr. Granson opened up the door and pushed it open. The morning light seemed to blind the three as they ran out. Eyes finally adjusting, the three looked around; nothing but damp air and muddy ground.

"Come on, let's check the Night Fury!" Jon shouted in panic, running to the general area where the Night Fury usually was.

Sadie was behind him, following him very closely. After a quick sprint, Sadie ran right into Jon who just stopped in front of her. "Jon! Come on! We got to find Talon!"

No response from Jon. Looking at him, she could she he was surprised by something by how wide his eyes were. Looking forward, she let out an audible gasp, which was followed by a short squeal by Dr. Granson. It was Talon; Talon on the Night Fury.

"Well good morning mate's" Talon said in mock Australian accent. Laughing as the Night Fury walked up to them, he continued. "I'd like you to meet my new friend. His name is Ebony."

"Talon!" Sadie gasped out loud "How did- what did- Huh!?"

"We had an…experience together" Talon said "It still hates, but we found some things that both…highly dislike and both experienced. I think that's how we connected."

"This is amazing!" Dr. Granson shouted in excitement "I never thought it could be trained!"

"It can't." Talon quickly replied, dismounting Ebony. "It let me help it, and I let it help me. We more or less came to an agreement as partners, not as an employee or employer way."

"This is perfect!" Jon shouted in more excitement "My project is a success!"

"More than you know Jon…more than you know!" Talon smiled.

"Well, this is a good time to tell you that we're have a race in two weeks!" Dr. Granson smiled "If you and…Ebony can learn to fly together, you can enter!"

"What race?" The three kids asked at the same time.

"Oh, it's something new! I just thought of it last week! The winner of the race gets special funding from DUTI on their project!" Dr. Granson sang.

Talon turned to Ebony who had taken a step back from the group "Ebony…wanna test that wing of yours out?"

Ebony extended both his wings out to answer Talon's question.

"Alright boy…let's show the world what hate can do…" Talon said, resting his metal hand on the metal wing. Finally, Talon was beginning to make ground with his theory and he was going to fly again. If Ebony is as stubborn as Talon is, then not only will they be flying, they will be flying exceptionally.


End file.
